


Life gone different

by CeresOktavia



Series: The inofficial number 42 [3]
Category: Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Genre: Blow Jobs, Cubus Demons, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Romance, Exophilia, F/M, Fluff, Lemon, M/M, Slow Burn, Smut, Succubus, Teasing, Voyeurism, incubus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 40,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23644351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeresOktavia/pseuds/CeresOktavia
Summary: Many things could have gone different for a specific elder succubus, mostly due to other parties being involvedMarlianken de Lafitte, unofficial 42nd member of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown, just learned the hard way that Nazarick believes her to be dead. Finding herself alone in the woods again while treating to her wounds, a welcome, yet unsuspected demon finds her.Malphas, the former seventh floor guardian.Crossover between my and ApocalypticRomanticals fictions ;)
Relationships: Demiurge (Overlord - Maruyama Kugane)/Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Series: The inofficial number 42 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1429402
Comments: 35
Kudos: 25





	1. Meeting a Ghost

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ApocalypticRomantic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApocalypticRomantic/gifts).



> This is my part of the crossover trade between me and the wonderfull Jaldabaoth666 (who is the most patient beta reader, love you for it <3) and nothing is better suited for it than not only having our OCs interact but also having the whole story taking a different turn 
> 
> Please enjoy :D

It was extremely rare for the Bicorn Malphas bred to get disquiet. He just had trained them too well and even the foals were outstandingly calm under normal circumstances. For exactly this reason he had no clue as to why the whole damn flock was suddenly all aflutter, in the middle of the night to make it worse!

No matter what he tried the beasts just refused to calm down.

There had to be something wrong!

At his wits end he stood outside the stables and racked his brains to find the reason for this unusual behaviour as the fuss was suddenly over. Just as quickly as the animals had turned agitated, they calmed back down.

What in all nine hells was that supposed to mean?

In his confusion the demon ran a hand through his hair.

A breeze of night air contained a scent he knew well. Wet coniferous timber and an ocean breeze mixed with a splash of lavender. It had been years since he had last caught onto this scent and he had firmly believed that he would never be able to do it again. As though he were drawn by strings he followed the scent of what he believed to be lost into the nearby forest.

Other scents mixed into the one he had somehow missed so much: Alcohol, blood and finally subliminal poison.

Slowly he started to question himself. Rationally he knew that he was just being nostalgic but something urged him to follow the trace. At least it seemed like it wasn’t just his imagination since the scent got stronger the farther he followed it.

After a few minutes he saw a person at some distance: Blond, athletic figure, pretty tall for a woman, black feathery wings and brown horns. His nostalgic feeling was immediately replaced by uncontrollable rage. The looks were right, but there wasn’t even the slightest hint of the energy this woman should have been radiating.

Somebody dared to imitate her, her of all people!

Without hesitating Malphas darted forward to rip his target into tiny pieces. Never would he allow for anyone to imitate Lady Marlianken.

Damn it she was gone forever!

Had not just left like his creator but had died in their world!

The target he intended to get shattered into magical splinters as he reached it. He turned to face what he believed to be his enemy and instantly froze in place like a deer in headlights. It was really her, just had to be! No stranger would ever depict the reflections in an elder succubus’ eyes as weak only lazy dancing flames. These eyes just couldn’t lie to him! Almost as confirmation of his discovery she addressed him.

“Malphas? Damn, you just scared the shit out of me.”

To be able to hear this beautiful low voice again, despite believing that he never could, had his heart skip a beat with joy. It was really her, no doubt!

“My lady, you’re alive!”

Torn between the urge to fall on his knees in front of her and the urge to pull her into a stormy embrace he remained in place, unmoving. Not one of his brightest moments, but how should he react to the fact that the Supreme he had believed to be dead was standing right in front of him? There was no protocol for such things or even a comparable situation. Not to mention that he was technically no longer a denizen of Nazarick, despite being once created as the seventh floor guardian.

Hell, if it wasn’t for his brother telling him about her supposed demise he wouldn’t even know about it. He remembered very well how rage and grief were eating Demiurge up back then.

His gaze fell upon the shredded state of her shirt and the fact that it was partly soaked with something that smelled like pure alcohol. He was able to see a bandage beneath. That explained why she was this pale, she had probably lost a lot of blood.

“Yeah … seems like I’m surprising a lot of people with it.” She laughed nervously and it was obvious to the arch devil that she had problems keeping her balance. Whoever had managed to leave that wound on her had done a thorough job with it.

“Do you have an antidote?” Rationality was the best way to keep his uprising rage in check. Tracking down the culprit and killing them could wait until he had made sure that she was fine and out of harm’s way.

He may have no longer been a denizen of Nazarick, but protecting a supreme one was something he considered a vital need, though he had no clue as to why.

“Already took one.” A weak smile graced her lips and she staggered, but managed to catch her balance again. Holding a hand in front of her face, she shook her head. She just looked so fragile and exhausted.

Had Malphas not know he were gifted with a strong protective instinct, he probably would have started to doubt his sanity because of his sudden urge to pick her up and carry her like one of those knights in cliché stories. Maybe he would have even acted on this impulse if he hadn’t experienced first-hand what kind of destructive power lay hidden behind her fragile looking surface. He’d gladly miss out on being a practice target for her spells. Additionally his creator had loved her like a sister and never missed out on telling everyone that he wished for her to finally find happiness. Somehow he still felt bound to his lord’s sentiment.

“Lady Marlianken, please come with me. You are in dire need of rest and maybe of a stronger antidote too.”

“Lady? … Oh no! I’m certainly no lady!” She leaned against a tree and started to laugh.

“But of course you are.” Her behaviour confused him. She was after all one of the supreme beings, the title ‘Lady’ was a self-evident part of that. Was she thinking this way because she was not a full member of the guild, just a permanent ally? Was she not aware of the fact that this position was the other Supreme Beings’ excuse to get her to finally join them?

Slowly her laughter died out. “Sorry to disappoint you, but you’re wrong. I’m a historian, a scholar, a bookworm. I literally do nothing else than bury my nose into historical recordings and analyse them.”

Ah! So her profession was the reason why she thought this way. Those things weren’t contradictive in his book, but who was he to object?

“If you insist then I’ll be accepting it my…”

“Marlianken … just Marlianken. Please.” Her expression showed how uncomfortable she was.

“As you wish Marlianken, however I still need to insist on you accompanying me and getting some rest. I could never forgive myself for leaving you alone, especially not while you are in a state like this.”

A smirk scurried over her lips. “Alright.” She took a step towards him and again she staggered but this time it didn’t looked like she would catch her balance. Suddenly released from his frozen state the demon rushed forward to catch her. Softly her fragile body plummeted against his chest with her horns poking his throat and much to his relief she was still capable of standing on her own.

“I’m sorry.” How her hands rested carefully against his chest to find support was something that to equal parts filled him with confusion and joy.

“There’s no need to apologize my … Marlianken. Are you able to handle it or do you need help?”

“I think you mentioned a stronger antidote earlier. Maybe it would be a wise choice to take one.” Her voice sounded gloomy.

“I agree.” He couldn’t help but smirk. At least she accepted his help without much of a fight.

Carefully he laid his hands on her trembling shoulders. If this was a dream than he didn’t want to ever wake up again. One of the supreme beings had returned, had found him and wasn’t pushing him away. For the first time since he had been removed from his position as seventh floor guardian he didn’t feel like an outcast. Much to his bewilderment she seemed to relax as a response to his timid touch. This was a good sign and he took it as non-verbal permission.

Accompanied by a startled “Eeeep!” on her end he lifted her up to carry her like a princess.

“What the? … Let me down … please … I can really walk on my own!”

Her face turned bright shade of red and her normally low voice was high pitched in her squeal, wings flapping in panic.

“My apologies, please allow me this little gesture of care.”

She stopped flapping her wings in panic and instead wrapped them tightly around her own body. The colour on her face stayed though and she shifted the thin metal ring around her lower lip nervously back and forth. Hesitantly she wrapped her arms around his neck to minimize her risk of falling.

This position allowed him to inhale even more of her long lost scent and it made it difficult for him to control his urges. But damn it the scent emanating from her was the rarest treat his nostrils had ever caught onto. For a succubus to smell of sex was normal, but to lack someone else’s scent instantly sent the incubus part of his nature on a rampage. No one had ever touched her except for herself.

What had she been thinking of when touching herself? Or whom? Was she satisfied with what she could do to relieve the stress that a lack of sexual stimulation brought upon cubus demons such as them?

And oh, he so wanted a taste of her.

Yes him being the first to touch her, the first to make her moan, shiver, lose herself in pleasure. He wondered what kind of tastes lay hidden behind her scent. Was the ocean breeze she smelled like also present in it or rather the coniferous timber? He hoped for the first one to be true and for the lavender part to be missing.

Which kind of looks would he be able to extract from her, how would her wonderfully low voice sound like when she finally lost herself? How long would it take for her impressive strength to melt away? Would she fight him for dominance in the act or would she submit completely?

The sound of someone repeatedly snapping their fingers brought him back to his senses.

“Malphas? Try not to drool too much over the fact that I’m still a virgin, okay?”

The embarrassment had vanished from her face and had been replaced by a knowing, almost predatory grin. Of course she had caught him, she was an elder- succubus and could therefore literally smell that he was thinking about fucking her senseless just now.

“I can’t promise much.” Again he smirked. Her scent told him that she wasn’t grossed out by the thought. However other matters had priority, much to his sorrow. An attempt to claim her virginity as his had to wait, at least for now.

His tail happily swayed behind him as he finally set off to his home, the returned one still in his arms. While on the short way they kept talking and the blonde succubus in his arms relaxed more and more, even snuggled herself in a little.

He learned that she had lived in this world for quite some time by now and that she had believed to be alone. That she had studied the history of this world to find traces of Nazarick and that she never really had the luxury of resting properly during this time.

As they reached his house he set her down and opened the door for her, inviting her in.

“So that means you’ve only travelled to Re-Estice because someone mentioned the name Ainz Ooal Gown to you?”

“Sounds stupid but yes. I really hope that those theocracy idiots swallowed my explanations and consider them truth.”

She followed him in and looked around, honest surprise on her face. “Wow … you’ve got a really beautiful home.” A soft smile followed her words.

“Thank you.” It had never felt like a home to him, but her honest compliment still filled him with joy. Though they had only been talking for a few minutes, he felt like he now understood her way better than previously.

Before they had believed she had died. 

Something suddenly weighed heavy on his heart. Why had they believed she was dead? He searched through his memories of the time before he had been shunt off to this place. There had been one point that marked the beginning of her visits becoming rare, until she eventually only showed up because Lord Ulbert or Lord Momonga had dragged her along. Still she always found the time to visit him. Seldom without company, but she did it. Occasionally she even had an item for him that would replace his cosmetic piercings with some magic infused ones.

There even was one occasion where Lord Ulbert had asked her to hold a sparring match with the arch devil. Just to give him a feeling of what it meant to fight the Trickster class, at least that had been his main reasoning. Shortly after, he understood where this reasoning originated from. Catching a Trickster had been his biggest challenge up to that point and the match had ended with him lying in the dirt and Lady Marlianken pinning him down with a knee on his chest.

Lord Ulbert had mockingly called her a ‘glass cannon’ and after their match was decided he understood why, though she was more cannon than glass in his opinion. Raw physical and magical destructive power, that’s what this woman was and with her arsenal of phantasms and clones she could very well abandon defences without putting herself in harm’s way.

A fact that seemingly wasn’t applicable for her original world.

And judging by the bandages around her stomach no longer for this one either.

“You … wanted a stronger antidote, right?” Distraction! Rationality! Anything to get him away from those gloomy thoughts!

“It would be wise to take one, yes.” Now that she was standing on her own legs, her trembling intensified again. He maneuvered her over to a seat first, then fetched a glass of water and the promised antidote. One strong enough to cure even poisoning left behind by his claws.

As he handed her both he knelt down in front of her. Without any comment, but with a silently formed ‘Thank you’, she took both things from his hands and just swallowed the antidote down immediately. He couldn’t help but worry, in the moonlight outside she had already looked pale but within the dim light of his fireplace she looked like a ghost, completely exhausted.

“There’s one question I just can’t shake off. Who did this to you?” Every hint helping to him to track down the culprit was one step closer to having them pay, as slowly and painfully as possible. For those he would dig out every torture method he could think of, allowing his demonic nature to run free.

“Demiurge.” She just sighed and shook her head. “He didn’t recognize me as fast as you did, despite me not hiding my energy like I’m currently doing it.”

That utterance hit him like a punch to the guts. His little brother had done this? Attacked a supreme one and even wounded her? Despite her openly showing her supreme energy instead of hiding it completely like she did now? That had to be a bad joke!

Demiurge would never … or would he?

“I see.” It took a lot of effort but Malphas successfully held his voice calm and steady. He would confront Demiurge about this whole deal and if it turned out to be something else than a misunderstanding or something similar than he would make sure that his little brother would regret the day he was created. Killing him was not necessary, but he would make sure that he’d never attack anyone again without thoroughly thinking it through first.

“I’m sure you’re tired. My house has a guest room, please excuse me for a few moments to prepare it.” He stood up in haste, needed to do something in order to calm himself otherwise his returning rage would no longer be controllable soon. To his surprise she stopped him by holding on to his sleeve.

“Thank you, for everything.” Where that tears glinting in her eyes? She must be beyond exhausted; that must be the only reason she was about to spill tears, when he has done so little to help her. Still she managed to smile friendly and warm. Her hand slipped away from the hold she had on him.

The only fitting answer he was capable of thinking of was returning her warm smile, then he turned to get the guest room ready as fast as possible. Putting clean sheets on the bed was no big deal, laying out fresh towels also, though he kept asking himself if she would really want to take a shower with her wound being fresh and all. After thinking about it for a short amount of time he just laid out towels for showering as well for simply quickly washing herself. Satisfied with the state of the room he went back to her.

There was hardly any way she could have startled him more, for she was staring blankly into the fire and was seemingly recognizing nothing of her surroundings. That view had a chill running down his spine, for a moment she looked more like a stature and not like a breathing being. At least until she blinked a couple of times and looked at him. The empty look on her face was gone, but her warm smile could no longer banish the exhaustion from her features, as an uneasy feeling wormed its way into his guts. There was almost nothing left of the strong, quick-witted woman he thought he knew. Instead he saw woman whose picture would have perfectly fitted in a dictionary as example for the word ‘Exhaustion’.

“Now that was fast.” Her soft tone wasn’t changing things, Malphas wished for nothing more than to erase the years she had spent in isolation for her, yesterday at best. He wanted to see her smile again, full of energy, hell he’d even gladly take the triumphant grin she had flashed him back when she had stomped him into the dust of the arena like he was an absolute beginner. Everything was better than what he saw right now, a supreme breaking under the weight of her past.

“I had good reasons, please.” He hoped that his fear wasn’t audible. In a polite gesture, he held a hand out for her, which she gladly took and he escorted her to the guest room he had always thought he would never need. After he had explained to her where to find everything he bid her good night and left her alone.

Over and over again he tried to convince himself that her heavy exhaustion was due to her wound and not because of the years she had spent in isolation. Why wasn’t he able to shake off that uneasy feeling? And why the hell had this unpleasant feeling crept into his very soul like worms within a corpse? Absentmindedly he ran a hand through his hair.

Maybe Demiurge knew more? He had to question his brother about attacking the elder succubus anyways.

A very long conversation over ‘Message’ later Malphas was still unable to shake that feeling. On the contrary, it had gotten worse. His brother of all people had panicked … Hopefully Lord Ainz would be having his head for it.

At least he was already dealing with consequences. Though he had tried to hide it, it hadn’t slipped the elder devils attention that Demiurge must have been in severe pain. A single ‘Soul Strike’ wasn’t much, but Malphas was well aware that the spots where the spheres had hit had to hurt badly. Maybe she had even broken some of his bones, deserved in his opinion.

To his relief the younger devil already regretted what he had done and not just because the pain was severe enough for him to have trouble breathing. Almost in panic he had asked about her wellbeing and had only calmed down after he had repeatedly ensured that she was safe and staying with him.

The part about her being exhausted to an unnatural degree was never mentioned.

Still pondering over the situation he took his jacket off, got rid of his tie and gloves and opened the top buttons of his shirt. Just a quick hot shower and some sleep, not that he hoped to get much.

His ears twitched. Had he really just heard shattering glass or was he imagining things?

The sound of a dull impact on a wall. Nope, he wasn’t imagining things!

Re-energized by a rush of panic he ran off to the room where Lady Marlianken should have been sleeping peacefully. He had no clue what had caused those things he had heard, but he didn’t care. She was alone, wounded and exhausted, and he would be damned if he wouldn’t immediately come to help her. There was simply no need for reason.

He ripped the door open and froze. She was still alone, but for some reasons there were multiple ghost spheres circling through the room. Even at this distance he was able to hear her heart hammering in her chest, at a pace that sounded like a scared rabbit’s heart not hers. She was sitting straight up on the bed, clutching the sheets close to her chest and her expression spoke of pure panic while silent tears were running down her cheeks. Her spheres had destroyed a part of the window and had left an impact hole in one of the walls.

Startled by his sudden appearance she jumped and looked at him, even her expression was that of a scared rabbit. Though it didn’t last long and the spheres disappeared.

“I … I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” Even her voice was shaking and she looked around. “Reversal!” With the words accompanying her spell, the damages in the room started to repair themselves. A haunted smile scurried past her lips. “I didn’t want to startle you, really.” With tears still running down her cheeks, this statement was less than believable.

Before even thinking about what he was doing, he went over to the bad and sat down next to her, only to pull her into an embrace. That her horns were uncomfortably piercing his collarbone couldn’t have interested him less. “It’s okay. There’s no longer any need to pretend that everything is fine.”

As though his words were breaking a spell, it finally happened; what had been long overdue judging by her mental state. Her hand flew up to his shirt and she clutched to him for dear life as the tears ran down freely. His only answer was to pull her in even tighter and just hold her close.

An unpleasant burning sensation woke Malphas up. Grumbling he opened his eyes. Had he accidentally scratched himself with his own claws again while sleeping? Everything he was able to see was a sea of blonde hair.

Oh, right!

After Lady Marlianken had had her mental breakdown last night, she had cried herself to sleep in his arms. Since he didn’t wanted to wake her up, and more importantly didn’t wanted to leave her alone again, he had just laid down next to her and had fallen asleep as well.

Grumbling she nestled her head a little closer again. He hissed, sucking in air through his teeth. The tips of her horns were surprisingly sharp and scratched over his skin as she snuggled herself in more comfortably.

So that’s where that burning sensation originated from.

The whole situation was surreal. Not waking up alone was already a new experience, but without a sexual act up front? Actually he had never thought of himself to be the kind of devil that would settle for ‘just cuddles’. Maybe it was due to her not just being yet another female but a supreme being? Jup, that had to be the reason!

How else could it be explained that he was capable of simply holding her in his arms without trying something? Especially since the only thing that shielded her body against his eyes was a thin blanket.

His thoughts came to a screeching halt.

Last night he had been too worried to set things into a sexual context, but now? Now he was painfully aware of the fact that there was only a thin piece of linen between her pale, oversensitive skin and him. Judging by her bare shoulders she was naked beneath. Okay, maybe she was still wearing panties but those didn’t count.

Rarely had something triggered his incubus instincts as fast as this. If he would carefully wake her now to …

Oh, no! He had to behave! Demiurge had promised to inform Lord Ainz about where to find her and he didn’t want the ruler of Nazarick to catch him while he seduced his adopted sister.

No matter the lust he felt, he would gladly pass on getting caught in the act by a creator for a second time. The one time Lord Ulbert had caught him and Demiurge had already been embarrassing enough and though his creator had laughingly shrugged it off, he had still learned to appreciate the value of uninterrupted privacy because of it.

He was perfectly capable of controlling himself, not a slave of his instincts, he … damn her scent was so alluring that he was about to go crazy. If he didn’t find a way to escape this situation fast, then he would certainly lose against his instincts.

Again she grumbled and turned her head away from light and her horns were again scratching over his shoulder. Betrayed by his own nature! This kind of slight pain was normally one the things that really turned him on, but this time it was torture.

All he wanted to do was hold back, but with every second passing the difficulty level was doubled and he really wished to escape this situation somehow. He of all people, despite him never missing out on a chance for some guileless fun. Frustrated by his dilemma he muttered to himself.

“Fuck … someone just bite me or something.”

“Patience buddy … maybe later.”

Whoa wait … she was answering? He looked down and searched for her face beneath the mess of golden hair. That little bitch had a smug grin on her face, she was awake!

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” Her grin intensified and she opened her eyes to look at him. “You know, you’re an incredibly comfortable pillow.”

That had to be a bad joke! He had such difficulties keeping himself in check and she was poking fun of him for it? All those myths and stories he had heard of elder cubus demons and how they ticked were just proven true by her.

While he as a ‘simple’ incubus was more likely to choose the aggressive route, ‘elder’ were said to be completely different. It was said they loved to play, tease and manipulate the other party into doing what they wanted without ever mentioning what it was in the first place or taking any actions.

That she intended to drive him nuts was clear. Or maybe she wanted him to be less reserved towards her? It didn’t matter, she succeeded in both. He grimaced, grumbling again.

“That’s one interesting way to thank me for my care.”

“Oh, this is not a ‘Thank you’.” She propped herself up on her arms and more unconsciously Malphas turned unto his back on his own. It was his intention to get out of her way so she could sit up, but she came closer and finally hovered over him, the thin blanket clutched to her chest with one hand and he couldn’t help but swallow thickly and stare at her. “And the ‘Thank you’ you’ve been thinking of completely depends on you daring to.”

How could this grin intensify even more?

And her scent to boot … if he only considered this, then she wanted him right here and right now. Before he was able to completely realize what her words meant they were interrupted.

The bicorn were going rampant within the stables and there was really no need for words for them to understand each other. She sat back and he got up and went for the stables. Cock blocked by his own beasts, there was a first time for everything.

Just like last night there was no obvious reason as to why the beasts were aflutter and after several minutes Lady Marlianken showed up, completely dressed much to his sorrow, and asked if she could help him in any way. There was nothing he was able to think of right away.

“MALPHAS! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?”

The guardian overseer’s angry voice reached their ears from outdoors. They looked at each other, completely puzzled. What was going on?

This day had started almost heavenly for the arch devil and still it rapidly went south. While Marlianken stayed in the stables trying to calm the animals, Malphas headed outdoors to his unfriendly visitor.

“There you are!”

“A good morning to you too.” He had barely left the stables as she already snapped at him. To his confusion the black haired succubus was wearing her armour, though without the helmet.

“Tsk.” She huffed scornfully. “Where are you hiding that imitator?”

“Imitator? Are you crazy?” So that was the matter. It seemed like Albedo had fallen for the misconception that someone had managed to trick Demiurge.

Rarely had he heard such a scoffing laugh. “Of course you fell for this charade as well … There’s little else to expect from someone that had managed to disappoint Lord Ulbert so much that he was removed from Nazarick.”

“Watch your words.” He hissed back and balled his hands to fists.

Again her scoffing laughter, but they were interrupted by Marlianken, who joined them slowly.

“Forget calming them down, even my Illusions don’t work somehow.”

The second Albedo had spotted the other succubus her face showed uncontrollable rage. No longer paying any attention to Malphas she darted in the direction of the blonde one and her Bardiche fell down like a guillotine.

Only to crash into the oversized shield of a shadowy copy of the other, a Phantasmal Defender.

“Albedo? What the …” Marlianken couldn’t even fully express her surprise before the dark haired one had already beaten on the defender two more times, only for the phantasm to shatter under the fourth hit.

Another heavy swing that precisely hit its target, only for the target to shatter, Marlianken was now standing 5 meters away on the opposite side.

“Girl, what the hell is wrong with you?”

No answer, instead the enraged demoness again darted for her target, swung her bardiche again and again a clone shattered. Albedo growled with fury, spotted her target again and immediately attacked, only for her weapon to clash with the great sword of another shadowy copy, an Illusionary Berserker. Four times the weapons crashed unto each other before the Berserker simply disintegrated into magical splinters.

Her next attempt to attack was stopped by Malphas, as he gripped her from behind and held her in a headlock.

“Damn it, calm down!” The guardian overseer was completely on a rampage, which was nothing unusual for demons that hadn’t learned to keep their emotions under control. Despite being stronger on paper, Malphas actually had a problem keeping her still, with the succubus struggling to break free.

“Let me go!”

“Only after you’ve calmed down.”

She cried out and struggled even more against the demon’s grasp.

“Only after I’ve killed that bitch!” Against all odds she managed to break free and again instantly attacked Marlianken, only to again crash against the shield of a Phantasmal Defender. Malphas’ attempt of restraining her again was stopped by her swinging her bardiche in his direction, hissing at him venomously. “Why the hell are you helping her? That’s not the real one! Can’t be!”

“You’re wrong Albedo!” Holy crap she had gone completely nuts!

“YOU FOOL! LADY MARLIANKEN IS DEAD! THAT’S JUST SOME RANDOM ELDER SUCCUBUS TRICKING YOU!” Wildly flailing her weapon around, she pointed to the other succubus, who was still standing behind her Phantasmal Defender and tried to understand the situation.

“And if I’d proof that it’s me?” Despite her every sense telling her otherwise, Marlianken still tried to reason with the other, only to be rewarded with an equally maniacal and malicious laugh.

“I’m not that dumb!” The look on the guardian overseer’s face perfectly matched her laughter. “There is no proof! I will simply kill you and Lord Ainz won’t even see your corpse!”

Again her bardiche came crashing down on the phantasms shield, though before she was able to attack again ghostly chains darted out of the ground and effectively restrained her. To her further confusion her opponent was suddenly behind her and snaked her left arm around her chest in a suffocating grip, while her right hand gripped her jaw.

“Open up sweety.” The whisper next to her ear only infuriated Albedo even more.

Shadows wavered from the blonde succubus’ hands and flowed like water into the mouth and nose of the black haired one. She tried to fight, but the vice like grip on her jaw gave Albedo no other option than open her mouth. The shadows were barely done flowing into her, as her opponent let go of her and only the chains kept her from attacking her again.

Then the spell hit her with full force.

Images of a foreign life flashed through her mind, flooding her every sense and the only thing here sensory overload-plagued brain could do was make her feel agonizing pain.

She screamed, clawed at her own head and flopped to the ground. Tears ran down her cheeks and took her sight away.

It was too much, too fast.

She barely managed to get on all fours before she simply threw up.

Foreign feelings, phantoms of once felt sensations, pictures of sceneries that would give even the cruellest demons a chase for their money drummed on, no beat the living hell out of her and again all she could do was scream out in agony.

All the while her opponent went around her and knelt down in front of her, a cold glare burning into her eyes. “And? Enough proof for your taste?”

Albedo had problems calming her breathing, let alone answering. Eventually she managed to choke a “Nice try” out, together with her remaining stomach contents. The other one only granted her with a raised eyebrow and Albedo started chuckling maliciously. “I know that she’s dead. You’re not fooling me!” Again she choked, but didn’t throw up this time. “You possess not even a spark of her aura.” Despite everything she managed to grin triumphant. “So forget about me buying your show.”

Much to her bewilderment, the other one just laughed. “Seriously? That’s why you think it’s fake?”

Showing a more triumphant than malicious smile, Marlianken stood up and deactivated the item that concealed her energy.

What she radiated hit both demons like a shockwave.

A storm of chaos and destruction, the freezing cold of afterlife mixed with the heat of molten glass and hidden beneath the vague feeling of being the target of a predator on the hunt, while they were reduced to the size of a mouse. Additionally this overwhelming intensity, like they were standing in the middle of a magical hurricane desperately trying not to get blown away.

Albedo and Malphas weren’t the only ones completely overrun by the intensity of her energy, the previously already rampant bicorn were now about to break out. Not surprising, this aura told everyone capable of feeling it that she was able to tear them into pieces if she felt like it.

There was no way to paraphrase it, both demons were scared shitless. If that rolled of her while she was somewhat calm, they wouldn’t wanted to know what it felt like when she was pissed.

It was impossible to determine if it was the fear of this destruction turned flesh’s rage or still the sensory overload, but Albedo threw up for a third time. Despite the fuss she were making just a minute ago, Malphas pitied her. Her aggressive demeanour had completely vanished however and now she whimpered, shivered in fear and was completely frozen.

“So? Still thinking this is fake?” The sentence sounded more spiteful than intended, but after this fuss a little slip-up while choosing her tone was within tolerance, at least from Marliankens point of view.

“My lady I …” The black haired one again choked.

“I’m counting that as ‘yes’.”

Without saying anything further, Marlianken drew a Mantra symbol into the air and after it was complete she got down on her knees again and gently touched Albedo’s jaw and temple. “Take deep breaths, it should be better in a few seconds.”

“I am so sorry.” Tears were again running down the guardian overseer’s cheeks, but this time shame was the reason for her crying. Thanks to her outburst she had very likely ruined all chances of ever reaching any kind of relationship with Lord Ainz. The other’s memories had told her what she had been through and how cruel life had been for her. She now also knew everything about herself and her world and it made her guts turn.

Only these two remained of those that had used Nazarick as shelter from their everyday lives and she had really tried to kill one of them. How could she ever forgive herself for it? Especially considering everything she now knew? It was impossible!

That Lady Marlianken returned her aggression with kindness only made her feel even guiltier. Getting help to stand up from the blonde succubus was only the smallest number on the list of things that increased the nagging guilt. Her magic had calmed the sensory overload, had calmed her stomach and had erased the nasty aftertaste in her mouth.

She had to set things right, had to apologize and work herself to the bone to even be worthy of forgiveness.

To her relief Lady Marlianken was hiding her terrifying presence again and therefore the rampage of the beast within the stables started to calm down and no longer rang in her ears that much. But now it was another presence that scared her shitless.

Accompanied by a rather large entourage, it was Lord Ainz himself slowly approaching Malphas’ small property.

Which puzzled him to some degree. It was rare that he received visits, strictly speaking he only received visits whenever Demiurge felt a certain itch. But within a couple of minutes two visitors from Nazarick?

Lady Marlianken didn’t count since he had picked her up in the woods last night.

“Albedo? I was told you were feeling sick and needed some rest.” The voice of the Overlord sounded rougher than Malphas remembered. It had probably something to do with the changes his brother had told him about.

“Lord Ainz I …” The addressed one swallowed hard. There were still tears running down her cheeks and the combination with her mimicry of a beaten dog just made her look miserable.

“What’s going on here?”

“Oh hey dear brother.” For a greeting Marlianken’s voice sounded surprisingly cold.

Ainz froze where he stood and only the gleaming lights in his non-existent eyes were proof of there still being life within him. After a few seconds he rushed to the blonde succubus and pulled her into a tight embrace without losing a single word. The way he held her close, hid his face in the nape of her neck and shivered was a dead giveaway of how much he had missed her and how happy he was to see her again.

At the same speed he had rushed forward, he let go of her and only his hands remained on her shoulders. The only answer he got was a knowing smirk.

“Missed you too.” Her voice suddenly sounded amused.

“Just answer me this one thing: how?”

“Woke up three days later.”

Again he pulled her into an embrace and this time she returned the gesture. It seemed like her cryptic answer was enough to satisfy his curiosity.

Albedo used the time she was given to take a few steps away and direct a sadly whispered “Please forgive me” at Malphas.

He had no chance to answer however, since it was again the voice of the ruler of Nazarick that echoed out. “Albedo … can you explain to me as to why you are here?”

She flinched, not only had she lied to her beloved master, she had set out to kill a potential threat for her position as Lord Ainz’ potential wife on her own. Only to recognize that it really was Lady Marlianken and to make matters worse that Lady Marlianken and Lord Ainz considered each other siblings.

“Buddy I don’t know what you think she did, but leave her be, she’s had more than enough for … well anything. Trust me.” Lady Marlianken of all people helped her? After all she had said and done? Guilt flooded her every sense again and it made it even more difficult for her to actually stop crying.

“You sure?”

“Jup.”

“Summary? Please?”

“All right … so she seemingly believed that I was an imitator who had managed to trick Demiurge and flipped her shit. She made a big fuss and attacked me. To deliver the kind of proof she can’t deny, I’ve imprinted my memories into her and finally bragged a little with my aura.” For each point Marlianken pointed an additional finger up.

“I knew about the presence thing, that’s why I hurried to get over here …” It was almost graspable how the gears behind his unmovable face were grinding. “ … wait … did you just say that you imprinted your memories into her?”

“Exactly.”

“Which ones?”

“All of them? Wasn’t really picky.”

“HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST IT?” His sudden outburst startled everyone.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Equally startled and annoyed by the sudden outburst, Marlianken took a step away.

“Why haven’t you just … I dunno … filtered things or something?”

“Yeah right.” She hit her own forehead. “Silly me. Just why hadn’t I thought of it sooner? Oh yeah, that’s right! Because otherwise I WOULD HAVE TAKEN A FUCKING BARDICHE TO THE FACE!” Now she threw her hands up in an angry gesture. “SORRY FOR PRIORITIZING SURVIVAL OVER PRIVACY!”

“THAT’S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!” Ainz rubbed over the bridge of his non-existent nose to calm himself down. “Giving away everything about our … your life outside of Yggdrasil is dangerous.”

“You act like I’m doing this with every random stranger. It’s Albedo we’re talking about.” She pointed casually in her direction. “What’s problematic about telling her?”

“Everything … it … is really complicated.”

“Oh, it’s complicated, wow …” She turned her head away from him.

“Satzuki, please …”

“What?” She turned back to him with an icy glare.

“What you did could actually ruin everything.”

“Wow … you really fucked up big time if this is enough to ruin everything.” Marlianken groaned, rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Could you take this serious?” Ainz’ words were more a hiss than anything else.

“Oh I do.” Her icy glare could have very well been a magic circle to conjure a blizzard. “IF this is really enough to ruin the things you tried to built up, than you just fucked up ...”

“Yeah right ...” He chuckled, but it didn’t sound friendly. “Because you so perfectly know about everything that’s been going on within the tomb. You have no clue how difficult it is to keep the balance.”

Now she just laughed and it sounded malicious enough for quite a few of Ainz’ entourage to quiver in fear. “Yeah you had it soooo difficult. Safe and sound within the tomb. Surrounded by its NPCs keeping you company. Can’t imagine how hard that has been.” She hid her face behind one hand and her laugh reduced to a chuckle.

“It’s not ...”

“Don’t you dare compare your safe little nest to the time I spent out there in isolation.” Somehow her glare managed to get even icier and her voice gave away how furious she was, despite her speaking calmly. “How long have you been in this world, huh? A year, maybe two?” She ran her hand through her blonde locks and pulled loose strands out of her face in the process. “Well newsflash asshole, I’ve spent over sixty years in this world, alone, unable to trust anyone, always on the run from potential enemies. And believe me there are plenty of enemies for grotesques out there.”

Those words hit home, left more than just a bitter aftertaste and not only Ainz was affected. Over sixty years of isolation? Of those present only Ainz, Marlianken and now Albedo too knew what her life had been before she fully merged with her avatar. If it hadn’t been for his emotional suppressor Ainz would have broken out in tears on the spot, Albedo was still crying anyways and Marlianken ...

The elder succubus was clearly about to loose herself in anger and disappointment.

“Satz... listen, I ...” Words failed the Overlord, he had an actual problem trying to grasp what those years had meant to her, what they had done to the woman he considered his little sister and the heart he no longer possessed clenched in his chest.

“Oh no buddy, YOU listen ... I was somewhat able to understand why Demiurge acted the way he did, hell even Albedo’s outbreak is something I can understand to some degree ... but you ...” Again she hid her face behind a hand. “You just showed up and threw accusations my way without knowing shit ...” She lowered her hand and there were tears glinting in her eyes. “So far Malphas is the only soul in this fucking world that’s been friendly to me in years ... despite him having every right to hate every member of the guild, including me.”

Unconsciously the undead sorcerer reached a hand out for his sister, only for one of her spirits to suddenly pop up and effectively block his was.

This spirit had the form of a wolf, big enough that even the confused bystanding Malphas only reached the beasts shoulders, a Fenrir Pup. The ghost bared its fangs and growled lowly. Obviously it thought of Ainz as an enemy of his mistress and made sure that everyone perfectly knew that it was ready to protect her, even against her own brother.

“Whoa ... okay ... a protective spirit? Really?” Instantly retreating his hand because of the surprise of this wolf actually considering him an enemy, Ainz shook his head.

“This one’s different.” There was no longer any emotion in Marlianken’s voice left. “She appears whenever she deems it fit.”

“Okay? But really I don’t meant to harm you. Please, let’s just get back to Nazarick and ...”

“No!”

“What?”

“Suddenly deaf? I said no.” Her expression was suddenly bare of emotions, cold and the fact that the flames in her eyes were almost gone had not only Ainz holding his breath in shock. The lack of flames was proof of how emotionally defeated she was.

“But why?”

“Because I’m done with places that treat me like shit.” Her hands wandered beneath the veil of hair over her right ear and fidgeted with something. As they reappeared, she held something in her left and threw it by her spirit at Ainz. He caught it mid air and as he looked at what she had thrown his way the blood in his veins froze. It was her guild ring or more precisely her guild earring.

And Ainz had thought it had hit home when she had revealed how long she had lived in this world, but this was worse. Because he perfectly knew what she was referring to and in all honesty couldn’t call her reaction an exaggeration. He had just pulled of the finest Dowel imitation possible, including so called allies stabbing her in the back.

“Please don’t ...”

“Screw you and your ‘please don’t’.” Her eyes slid shut and where she had just stood suddenly was empty space.

For Ainz, his world came crashing down. All he had done to this point was to give his fellow guild mates the means to locate him and the tomb, it was his single goal. Find the others, no longer be the only former player and he gloriously ruined it the second he achieved it.

As for Albedo, she thought of herself as a sad excuse of a guardian. Unworthy of her position and perfectly aware of the role she had played in Lady Marlianken turning her back at Nazarick. The weight of her guilt came crashing down on her and the succubus again flopped to the ground, still unable to stop crying. Those imprinted memories were hard enough to deal with, but now they served as her eternal punishment.

Malphas just stood there, unable to process what had just been happening right in front of his eyes. Suddenly the mental breakdown he had witnessed last night made so much more sense. And had she just said that he had been the only one treating her with kindness in years? He couldn’t even begin to fathom what that meant, despite having spent about 2 years in almost complete isolation.

Worst of all, she was gone again.

Not because of his failure, but because of others repeating patterns she had come to hate.

“Malphas?” Lord Ainz’ rough voice stirred the devil away from his thoughts.

“Yes my lord?”

“I’m ... please forgive me for making such a fuss on your property.”

Without giving it much thought the demons just nodded in acknowledgement.

“I’m sure she will return to you once she’s sure that everyone else is gone.”

He wanted to ask the ruler of Nazarick as to why he thought this way, but then the oversized ghostly wolf nudged it head against the arch demon, begging for affection, and he understood. The spirit had stayed to observe. Surprisingly he was actually able to touch the Fenrir Pup and scratched it behind its ears.

“Please, return this to her.” The overlord offered her earring to the arch devil. “It belongs to her.”

“My apologies my lord, but I think it would have more meaning if you returned it yourself.”


	2. Nobody wants to be lonely

For the first time in months she was able to get to bed, her actual bed, relatively early and just now her phone refused to shut it. Message tone after message tone had the phone ringing and kept her awake and if she didn’t needed the damn thing as alarm she would have muted it hours ago! Annoyed to no end, she pulled the blanket over her head … was just some sleep too much to ask?

The call tune rang up and she opened her eyes.

“Oh for fucks sake.”

She snatched her phone off of the nightstand and looked at the screen. Ulbert …

Grumbling, she answered the call. “Hey Ul.”

“Girl, please tell me you read the patch notes.”

“Oh hey Marli, sorry to keep you awake, how was your day?”

“How the hell did I … oh fuck.”

“Jup ...” She ran a hand through her hair.

“I forgot about the time difference again.” She heard how he hit his own forehead. “Sorry.”

“’s fine. So what about the notes, didn’t have the time to read them yet.”

“Yeah, well … they’re going to lower the limit for level 100 NPCs for guild bases.”

She sat up in her bed. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was.”

“But … you just created a second version for the seventh floor guardian.”

“I know.”

“And you were still trying to persuade the others to have Malphas guard the ninth floor?”

All she heard was a pained whimper.

“Wow … I never thought I’d be saying this but, looks like your perfectionist bullshit came back to bite you for once.”

“I know.” He practically whined. “Worst thing is, there is a work around …”

“Lemme guess: Cash Shop?” Again she only heard a pained whimper. “Uh … that expensive huh?”

“I’d say I’d pay with my first born, but you know … lack of girlfriend ‘n such.”

“See it from their perspective, if it’s too cheap, then too many guilds would stack up their base with level 100 NPCs as guards.”

“And this is helping me how exactly?”

She flopped back against her pillow. “You guys can raid others without running into too many obstacles that could turn out to be problematic.”

“Marli?”

“Yes?”

“Not helpful!”

“I’m tired, okay?”

Marlianken shook her head, redirecting her attention to the market place beneath. After she had left like a bratty teen, she had decided to hide herself completely. Now she was sitting on a roof over the market of the Royal Capital and watched the people there going about their everyday lives.

Why was she now, of all times, plagued by this old memory?

Her thoughts trailed back to Malphas and how she had just left without thanking him properly for his help and care. It dawned on her why that exact memory had popped back into her conscience.

After that call she’s had a rough night, was barely able to sleep and despite being tired she had stayed up early to read those damn patch notes. The developers had included multiple contests for those guilds that had too many level 100 NPCs and would otherwise need to delete some. Most of these contests were about guards for social hubs, but there were also those for the reworked mount buying system. It had been her idea to submit the data for Malphas to those contests and he ended up being chosen for the Bicorn stables.

Back then she had thought it would solve a problem, with Malphas being saved from being deleted but now … she felt like the biggest bitch in town. The poor guy was not only isolated, but judging by Albedo’s behaviour looked down upon and it felt like it was her fault.

Maybe she should have given in to Ulbert’s constant begging of using the ‘family emergency fund’ to buy the extra slot and have the Arch Devil stay in Nazarick.

She rubbed over her face with both hands and groaned. For the first time since she became a demon her more human emotions surfaced, and she hated it. There were only few things she wouldn’t do to return to the unfeeling state she had been in the last six decades. But no, she was plagued by the same feelings from back when she was trying to get Professor Dowel to stop his bullshit by showing utmost dedication to the job.

Only for her Fenrir Pup to show her that she was being self-destructive again. Great!

Grumbling, she closed her eyes to mentally connect with the Pup. It still sensed at least two other people around the Bicorn stables and was very busy keeping Malphas from working by pestering him for affection. Right now, it enjoyed being cuddled by the tall Devil and Marlianken couldn’t help but giggle. Though it was big, looked like it would tear everyone to pieces and growled in a threatening manner relatively often, it was still a puppy and therefore loved nothing more than playing and cuddling.

Opening her eyes again, she leaned back a little and started to observe the market again. While some stalls were already busy, others were only recently opening or in the middle of being set up. It was oddly calming to watch something this seemingly simple.

One particular stand caught her attention. They had tanks full of living fish. Every time a customer came by, they snatched a fish out of the tanks and butchered it in front of them, even prepared it according to the customers’ wishes.

‘Well that’s what I call fresh fish.’

Suddenly she had an idea. She hopped down from the roof she was sitting on and went for a quiet alley, where people couldn’t peek in easily. When she was sure no one could see her, she first altered her looks and then got rid of the camouflage spell that kept her entirely hidden. In her now human disguise, she made her way to the market, now perfectly knowing how to thank Malphas for everything he had done for her.

The sun had already started to set as Malphas was finally done with his daily workload, mainly due to the Fenrir Pup demanding his attention. Though the ghostly wolf was a cute creature, with its affectionate way of following him around, constantly demanding cuddles was somehow tiresome. Thankfully he was done for today and the spirit was by now seemingly satisfied with how much affection it had gotten, and was lying in front of his house and observed thin air.

Still, his Lady was nowhere to be seen and he kept wondering if she would really come back as Lord Ainz had said. He went over to where the Pup had laid down and sat on the ground next to it, ruffling up its fur and the ghost instantly wagged its tail.

“Wish you could tell me if she’s coming back.”

“ _She is on her way, the people bothering her are gone now._ ”

There was no movement, but he was able to hear a female voice in his head. It startled him badly enough to almost jump.

“You’re able to talk?”

“ _I’m a spirit not a dumb wolf, smartass._ ”

Malphas narrowed his eyes as he looked at the unmoving face of the Fenrir Pup.

“Could have fooled me. You behave like one.”

“ _Ah yes. That’s part of the transition and to be honest, your cuddles are the best!_ ” The ghost nudged its head against his chest. “ _Can’t help but love them._ ”

“Transition? You were once something different?”

“ _Well yes, I was once a woman known as Kaori._ _But those memories keep fading away. All that is left of my former life is my name and my will to protect._ ”

The ghost again nudged its head against Malphas’ chest and whimpered. Grinning, he started to scratch it behind its ear and to thank him it rolled on its side, unconsciously twitching with one paw.

“Did I hit a good spot?” He couldn’t help but tease it. This kind of behaviour simply was too inviting not to.

“ _I’d purr if I was a cat!_ ” The twitching of the paw intensified.

“Yeah ... who’s a good little wolf?”

Contrary to what he believed, it didn’t counter but whimpered and wagged its tail even more, it had him bursting out laughing. The whole thing was really entertaining.

“Now look who’s getting along nicely.”

Malphas looked up and spotted Marlianken seemingly standing in the air, watching how spirit and devil were interacting with one another. She chuckled, and it sounded amused. Her black wings looked like they were radiating a dark blue light with the setting sun shining upon them. They fluttered as she settled on the ground.

“Well ... Kaori is a very kind wolf, aside from being foul mouthed to some degree.”

“ _Hey not truuuuuu ..._ ” Another scratch behind its ear had the Pup trailing off, happily wagging its tail and the twitching paw returned.

“Yeah, she doesn’t know when to shut it.” Marlianken came closer, knelt down in front of the wolf, ruffled up the fur on its belly and the wolf howled in delight. “And she loves to keep people from working.” The demoness looked up and grinned mischievously at the devil. “Want to know how to get some revenge?”

“Revenge for being kept from work? Any time!” He grinned too.

Still grinning, Marlianken stood up again and pulled a large wooden stick out of thin air, slowly rotating it in her hands. “Hey, girl.” That amused sing-sang tone gave away how close she was to start laughing. “Wanna play fetch?”

The Fenrir Pup looked up and hopped to its feet, instantly at full attention. “ _YES!_ ”

With a swing of the stick and a feigned attempt at throwing it, the wolf darted off, only to instantly return.

“ _Not fair!_ ”

Another feigned throw attempt and the wolf almost darted away, only to remain in place at the last second.

“ _Come on! THROW IT!_ ”

This time Marlianken threw the stick full force, and it flying wide away and the wolf darting off to fetch it.

“Wow ... well that’s ... cute.” Malphas tried not to laugh and failed.

“I know, right?” Marlianken laughed too, but only shortly. Her expression quickly turned from amused to ashamed. “Malphas I … wanted to apologize for this morning.”

The arch devil instantly stopped laughing and looked at her, utterly puzzled.

“I …” The demoness exhaled heavily. “I know I behaved like a bitchy teen … sorry that you had to witness that and … also sorry for just leaving. I didn’t mean to come across as ungrateful.”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t. I mean … I got into a couple of fights with Demiurge and … you and Lord Ainz were pretty civilized compared to us.” It was the most honest answer he could give. Whenever he and Demiurge argued, they first kicked each other around only to end up banging. Not the kind of sibling relationship people would expect.

The smile that graced her lips was weak. “Still … I owe you, big time.” She fidgeted with the empty spot on her right ear. “And … I wanted to thank you properly …” Additionally to her fidgeting she started to shift her lip piercing. “… are you fine with me cooking you diner as a way of thanks for everything you’ve done for me?”

His ears perked up; what had she just offered? As he processed her words, the Pup returned with the stick between its teeth, wagging its tail.

Marlianken reached for it, but the Pup wasn’t thinking about letting go. Instead it held on to its ‘prey’, pulled, threw its head left and right and growled. “ _NO! IT’S MINE!_ ”

“Want me to throw it again?”

The ghostly wolf stopped and let go. “ _YES_!”

Behind them, Malphas got to his feet again. He stepped forward, taking the stick from the succubus’ hands. “Let me do it this time.”

“Oh? Okay.”

Grinning, the arch devil swung the stick several times, then faked an attempt to throw it, only to change direction in the last second and threw it into the opposite. First the wolf fell for the feigned attempt, but quickly changed direction as well and darted after its toy.

They both again chuckled, but Marlianken quickly fell silent, her offer still being unaddressed unnerved her. Again playing with her lip piercing and fidgeting on the empty spot on her ear, she did her best to avert the demon’s gaze.

This idea had been stupid from the start anyways!

There was simply no reason why he would accept something this stupid, it sounded like the offer of a child and not of grown woman. Her mind ran rampant with negative scenarios, progressively getting worse every time her mind dug up a new one, until the demon next to her cleared his throat. She dared to peek at him and saw that his cheeks were painted in a rosy pink.

“I’d love to taste something you cooked.”

She blushed, fast.

“To warn you, I’m not really a good cook.” Now she additionally rubbed over her neck with her free hand. “You’ll probably be disappointed.”

“I dare to doubt that.”

“Care to explain why?”

“Well … the way I’m seeing it is that my supreme lady leaves her comfort zone to thank me, that’s the most precious thanks I could get.”

Embarrassed to no end, Marlianken covered her face with both hands and squeaked in an untypical high pitched tone. To Malphas this sound was just cute and seeing her like this warmed his heart. As she lowered her hands, he saw that her cheeks had turned bright red.

“Please … don’t refer to me as ‘supreme lady’ … I downright hate that.”

“But it’s what you are.” Those words confused him, still he smiled softly.

“Believe me, I’m not. I’m a former world traveller at best.”

“Is that what the supreme ones did? Travel worlds?”

“Kind of.”

“Interesting.”

They were interrupted by the Fenrir Pup again, as it returned again with the stick in its jaws, happily wagging its tail. It instantly went over to Malphas and as he grabbed the stick it fought him for it. The demon enjoyed playing with this spirit. The light-heartedness of it was something he had never experienced before and he valued it for what it was: a moment of bliss.

Still fully engaged within the playful fight, he looked at his supreme lady. She still seemed to be uncomfortable, though she did her best to hide it. Nonetheless her shifting her lip piercing was a dead giveaway of her true feelings.

Finally he managed to win and held the stick behind himself.

“Marlianken? How about we split up? I’ll keep our little wolfy occupied and you can do what you suggested without me constantly watching you.”

“Sounds good.” She smiled friendly, her relief shining through. “Though I may need you to show me a few things in your kitchen first.”

“Yeah … would be better I guess.” He turned to the ghost in front of him, offering the stick back. “I’ll be back in about … let say 5 to 10 minutes, then we’ll gonna play until dinner is ready.”

“ _Uh! This long? Really?_ ” Wagging its tail fast enough to produce a small breeze, the ghostly wolf howled in delight.

“Really!” Malphas ruffled its fur between its ears. “Be right back.” He turned back to the blonde succubus, gesturing to her to enter the house first. “Shall we?”

It took the devil a little more than 10 minutes to show her where to find everything she needed, but some of the things she asked for were things he rarely used. Most demons stuck to eating meat, some even considered preparation holding it in front of a frying pan to show their slice what it looked like and then put it onto a plate. Marlianken was seemingly not one of them, though she gave him only small hints as to what she wanted to prepare.

Two pots, water, knives and a cutting board, also bowls and spoons?

He was unable to think of a dish she could prepare by using those utensils and quickly gave up on pondering about it in favour of enjoying playing with the Fenrir Pup. After a couple more throws of the stick, he had started to wrestle the giant wolf and it was quite funny to do it. Mostly because the pup was so excited someone played with it like this that it just couldn’t keep its limbs still for even a second and therefore lost over and over again.

Again the tall arch devil had managed to wrestle the ghostly wolf onto its back and ruffled up its fur on its belly. “Had enough?”

“ _Never!_ ” A small delighted howl followed and Malphas only chuckled.

The sound of light footsteps behind him had him turning around. Of course it was Marlianken. She had a shy smile on her lips and slowly approached them. “Hey … I’m done.”

Slowly, she crouched down next to him to also ruffle up the ghost’s fur. Feeling her distress, Malphas stood up and offered her a hand to help her up. As she reached for it, he pulled her to her feet and she almost stumbled against him because he was using a little too much force. They both laughed at their own awkwardness. It was just plain silly, they acted like nervous teens over something as simple as a meal.

“Sorry … I’m a bit nervous. It’s been years since I last cooked.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not really a good chef myself.”

They both started laughing, the nervous energy hanging in the air starting to ease.

“Maybe we should go inside and eat? Before whatever you prepared gets cold?”

“Would be better.”

Again they laughed and headed indoors. Much to the arch devils astonishment, the succubus had prepared a rather colourful dish and served it in a bowl, already waiting for him on the table and accompanied by a glass of wine.

Cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers and radish neatly cut into little cubes, grated carrots and marinated raw salmon, cut into bite sized slices, all carefully arranged on rice and sprinkled with sesame and topped with a yellowish sauce dribbled over the ingredients.

He instantly noticed that one bowl contained way more salmon than the other and as he turned to ask her she already grinned awkwardly. “I thought you might like more fish than vegetables.”

“Well …” He rubbed his neck. “ … I really am not very big on greens.”

Her giggling relieved him, she wasn’t angry in the least. “Then my guess was right. Shall we eat before the rice cools?”

Never before had Malphas sat down in his own home with such feelings of excitement and anxiety. It was really strange how something as simple as this was capable of flipping his world upside down. All she had done was cook for him. He mused that it was because she was, after all, a supreme being, someone he should worship as above any gods. Instead he sat there like they were equals and almost didn’t dare to destroy her little work of art. She had gone out of her way to make it look appetizing. And damn, it smelled good!

Carefully he took his first spoon, making sure to get as many ingredients at once as possible. Chewing slowly, he enjoyed the taste. Though it was very basic in ingredients choice and the sauce she had used … he was unable to place all tastes but the combination was surprisingly good. Even that she had seemingly managed to let the rice scorch a little added to the taste instead of being disturbing. Still caught in his surprise he swallowed down and stared at her.

“This is really good.”

She blushed fast. “Please … you don’t have to say it’s good. Be honest.”

“I am! I mean the rice is a little scorched but it still tastes really good.”

To his further surprise, her blush deepened and she hid her face behind her hands and squeaked like a guinea pig. Apparently she was not good at taking compliments. The way she peeked through her fingers was just adorable and he couldn’t help but laugh.

Still laughing he took another spoon, watching how she tried to eat while concealing her embarrassment. For a few precious minutes he was able to see the woman behind the image he had of her. He noticed that the real woman had very little in common with the supreme one he imagines her to be.

The image he had constructed of her was this unflappable demoness, always above everything. Instead of this, he witnessed a woman that was bad at taking compliments, socially awkward, foul mouthed to some degree and surprisingly open about herself and her life. It was as refreshing as it was interesting. They talked about her life since she came to this new world after they were done eating, having a few laughs, but still something felt terribly off.

“It’s getting late, I should probably go.”

He had expected and dreaded those words. “Do you really have to?”

Her smile was soft but at the same time haunted. “As much as would like to stay, I don’t want to be a burden and let’s be honest, I can’t really help you with your work. Bicorn loathe virgins, remember?”

“Well that’s fixable.” The demon slightly blushed and scratched his nose.

“Let me guess, you would gladly help me out?” She grinned mischievously and all Malphas could do to answer was cough. His answer had her chuckling. “I won’t just vanish into the void I came from.”

“Is that a promise to visit?”

“Of course it is.” Again she chuckled and he chimed in, though he didn’t feel like it.

Although she wasn’t pushing him away entirely, her choice to return to her lonely days was something he was unable to place. Was it him? Did he do something wrong? Was it the hurt over what Lord Ainz had done? Her not wanting him to find her again after what he had witnessed was something he could understand, nonetheless … freely choosing isolation was something that his mind refused to process.

Worst of all, he hated to see his supreme lady leave. Just how could he persuade her to stay? She was already standing up … he had to find a way!

Contrary to what he thought she would do, she went around the table, directly to him, and kissed him softly on his forehead. “Thank you for being there for me.”

This little gesture effectively short circuited his brain. Showing affection was nowhere to be found on the list of things he had expected her to do upon leaving. Completely on a loss for words he silently followed her as she left his house at little distance, he watched how she ruffled the Fenrir Pup’s fur, who was still outside waiting, only for the ghostly wolf to nudge its forehead against hers. In return the succubus carefully cupped the spirits face with both hands.

The painful expression on her face told him that leaving wasn’t really her first choice. It encouraged him to come closer, trying to persuade her again. “You really don’t have to leave. You can stay, I got a spare room as you know.”

She turned her head his way and forced herself to smile friendly. “I know. Still, it feels like I’m taking advantage of you …”

“ _Oh please, stop being such a little drama queen!_ ” A headbutt into her back had the blonde succubus stumbling against the arch devils chest. “ _He wants you to stay, so stay!_ ”

With a startled look on her face, Marlianken took a step away from him. “Sorry!” She then turned to her wolf and her expression clearly showed that its attitude was nothing she was pleased with. They started to argue in language Malphas was unable to understand, but it sounded far from civilized. Another headbutt, this time against her chest, and the demoness again stumbled against the devil.

“ _She’s staying!_ ”

“You don’t get to decide that!”

“ _Shut it! Malphas, I entrust my Mistress to you, take good care of her or I’ll bite your tail off._ ”

“Kaori! That’s not working and you know it!” The demoness shook her head, her ghostly protector had the worst timing when it came to behave like a bratty kid.

“Uhm … why do you think it’s not working?” Malphas couldn’t help but ask. Was it him or something he did? To his further confusion the expression of his lady was suddenly all sad and tortured.

“It’s … you don’t see yourself as an equal and … I’m …”

“ _She thinks you’re being kind to her because you think you have to be kind._ ”

“What? Not true! I’m worried, that’s all!” Though he knew it wasn’t meant to be offensive, he still felt plenty offended. Why would she think that way?

In front of him his lady hugged herself and turned her lip ring while staring at the ground. “Are you sure? Nothing among the likes of me being a … how did you put it again? Supreme being?”

“Oh … “ Now the arch devil painfully understood. This was about him not seeing her for what she was, but for what he believed her to be and it bothered him greatly. He knew perfectly well how uncomfortable it was, to be seen as something different then he was. The exact same thing had happened to him after he had been removed from his position within Nazarick. Suddenly he was no longer the respected seventh floor guardian, but the one that had been replaced and exiled. That he was still Lord Ulbert’s first creation didn’t matter. Suddenly those who once respected him treated him either like shit or ghosted him completely.

What bothered him most however was her saying that he didn’t see himself as equal. How could he ever see himself equal to her? To a woman that once was capable of shaping the world however she pleased, create people if she pleased? That was something his mind just refused to process. In his book there simply was no way that they were equal!

“Yeah … oh.” It looked like Marlianken was about to cry. “I’m sorry Malphas, I really am. I just can’t take advantage of you like this.”

With a wave of her hand the Fenrir Pup disintegrated, his ally in this matter gone. His mind ran extra miles in trying to come up with a way to convince her to stay. There was only one way, but it was something the very core of his being denied to accept. Until his instincts kicked in!

‘It’s simple dumbass, she wants an equal, so be her equal!’

That was wrong on so many levels. He was once created as a guardian, then rewired to maintain the bicorn stables. He just wasn’t equal!

‘Didn’t she say that those days are in the past?’

A truth he couldn’t deny, she did claim that her ability to come and go whenever she pleased was gone.

‘At least assure her that you’ll try or she is gone, silly.’

The demon took a shaky breath. Normally he hated it when his instincts kicked in to take him over but this time they were right to some degree. At least he could try to see himself as equal.

“I see … but please stay. I promise to try to see myself as equal, it will probably take a lot of time and effort … but please …” He swallowed down the lump forming in his throat. “I’m … I can’t shake the feeling that I’m losing you a second time if you leave.”

“Losing me a second time?” She looked up from the ground, confusion written on her features.

“When Demiurge told me about … about them thinking that you passed away I was … devastated. For months my thoughts no longer circled around my exile but around the fact that I was unable to protect you and it was almost driving me crazy. So please … I promise to try, please stay.”

Sounding like a desperate beggar was nothing he liked, but right now he was exactly that. Speaking it out loud brought all the painful memories back, and his whole body started to shiver. Those days had been worse than every nightmare he ever had. Her tortured expression tore even more at his heart than those memories.

“You promise to honestly try?”

“I promise.”

“Then I’ll stay.” She smiled, but it was weak.

As relief flooded his very being he just pulled her into a tight embrace without really thinking about it. Never again would he allow for anything to happen to this woman. He would protect her, make sure she was safe. Hell itself could never stop him from keeping the oath he just swore to himself!

Much to his surprise she hugged him back, softly whispering. “I’m sorry … for having you worry.”

“Don’t be.” He pulled her in even tighter. “I know it wasn’t your fault.”

“You’re saying my loner bullshit isn’t my fault?” Her mischievous giggle made him grin.

“A side effect of spending so much time alone I’d say.” Slowly, he loosened his embrace and peeled away from her. “Please, let’s go inside again.”

“Gladly.” This time her smile was warm and friendly. Evidently she was as relieved that she would stay as he was.

Malphas sipped on the shot she had just given him and was pleasantly surprised. “Wow … that really tastes like apple strudel. How?”

“I know, right? I don’t get it either.” Marlianken downed her glass in one go, chuckling afterwards. “Gosh, I missed drinking this.”

“I get why you missed it, this stuff is good.” He also downed his glass in one go. “Damn … what’s that made of? I really need that recipe.” Holding his glass in her direction for a refill, he chuckled.

Also chuckling, the succubus refilled both their glasses. “It’s fairly simple. It’s a one to three mix of cinnamon tequila and apple schnapps.”

“You’re kidding!”

“Nope.”

Marlianken didn’t touch her glass while Malphas downed his second, enjoying the taste and almost expected to feel the crunchy texture of the mimicked treat between his teeth. “Where did you even get your hands on cinnamon tequila? … And the idea to mix these things?”

“Alright, so for the first: I came across a centaur merchant living near the southern border of the roble kingdom about … I guess it was almost 50 years ago … anyways, he was importing the stuff from somewhere. Until today he is my only source for it, since he refuses to tell me where he got it from. As for the second question: one of my co-workers back in my world introduced me to it.” She grinned and nipped on her drink.

“Blessed be this co-worker, this stuff is really tasty.”

“And it goes down like water.” Laughing, she eyed his empty glass and offered him the bottle containing the mixture. The arch devil gladly took it and filled his glass again.

“What about this centaur? Does he know what and who you are?”

“Oh no!” She laughed heartily. “He knows me as an elven woman going by the name of Cassandra Pentaghast.” Again, she only nipped on her glass.

“An elven woman?”

“Yeah, I know … it’s just so much work to think of disguises and elves live for a fairly long time compared to others, so it’s not going to waste as fast as others do.” This time she emptied her glass and it was Malphas turn to refill it.

“I guess it’s difficult to keep track of all the disguises you used over the years.”

“Not really.” Grinning in a mischievous manner, she pulled a little notebook out of thin air and offered it to him. Equally confused and curious, he reached for it and flicked through it. Apparently it was a listing of her disguises and whenever he tapped on a page he had the image of how it looked flicking through his mind.

“That’s one neat trick to keep things in mind.”

“Right? Also helps to great lengths in letting these faces age over time.” She chuckled again and leaned back.

For hours they kept chatting over everything and nothing and emptied several bottles of the liquid apple strudel mixture. With each glass Marlianken visibly relaxed, got more cheery and talkative and her cheeks were painted in a light shade of red. Evidently she was getting drunk fast, but it wasn’t showing that much in her speech pattern. Malphas on the other hand only felt a light buzz, but he immensely enjoyed talking with her this way.

Equal footing started to sound more and more like something he could get used to. Talking about nonsense with her, laughing with her over dumb jokes and just being downright silly eased his mind up and he was able to enjoy the moment again. After all, he had convinced her to stay, so sitting there and drinking was also celebrating the fact that he now had a roommate.

Again she was giggling like a little witch because he was unable to believe what he just heard. “I’m not shitting you, ‘s really true.”

“Sorry but … did he really say that?”

“Not consciously … you know, Ulbert’s actually a sleep talker. That’s how I found out a few very hilarious things ‘bout him, as well as some embarrassing ones.” She giggled again.

“Any examples?”

“Well … how ‘bout him being a kinkster, outshining even Peroronchino in some aspects?”

Malphas almost choked on his drink. “Really?”

“Oh yeah … stuff he mumbled while sleeping would give that little perv a run for his money.” She giggled again and rested her chin on her hand. “Should’ve recorded the stuff.”

“Well … proof of what you just said would be nice.”

To his surprise, she burst out laughing. “You don’t look into the mirror very often, do you?” The confusion written all over his features only fuelled her laughter. “Oh come on … you’re one hot looking devil. That’s not something that happens on accident.” Now a bright blush instantly covered his cheeks and ears and she laughed even more. Covering her face with her free hand she tried to calm down, but more that toning it down to chuckling was no longer manageable. “Flustered, are we?”

“Let me guess, you think about Demiurge in the same way?”

“Hey … you both are good looking, I’m not or never denying that. And before you ask, No, I’m not thinking one of you boys looks better than the other. You both got your own charm.”

“Like?” Still with bright red cheeks and ears, Malphas managed to grin.

“Oof … where to start? I for one like how tall you are, makes me feel less like an abnormity.”

“Excuse me?”

“I grew up in a society where the average male was about 170 centimetres tall … so as a woman bein’ 179 it’s … not what you want.” She pointed out her tongue.

“Not what I expected.” He laughed. “But okay, I’ll bite what else?”

“Sorry … right ‘bout now my head‘s a little … fuzzy.” She grinned. “Coming up with single things‘ difficult, to say the least. Can I jus’ settle for overall thinkin’ that you’re one hot devil? Please?”

His grin intensified and he leaned back. “Well, for now, I’m gonna settle for that.”

Like so many times during this evening they both laughed over their own dorkiness.

“’K … so I start to feel a little tired … if you want to get some info outta me, you should do it now buddy.” She folded her hands and leaned her cheeks against them with a Cheshire grin on her face.

“Uh, last question for tonight? Okay! … I keep asking myself which one of your piercings is the item that hides your presence? I thought I knew all of their abilities, but evidently you must have changed one of them.”

“Nope changed none, but …” Her grin intensified, she poked out her tongue and after a short flicker an illusion shattered and suddenly there was a small silver pebble tauntingly sitting in the middle of her tongue. “ … I got myself a shiny new one to do the trick.”

It had shock value, Malphas gave her that. “Wow … didn’t expect that.”

“Literally no one does and I can perfectly hide it.” Chuckling again, she leaned even further to the side. “Also, only few people know ‘bout it.”

“How many count as few?”

“Well … counting you, the guy that did it, an’ me of course, it’s three people knowing ‘bout it.”

His dumbfounded face had her laughing again. Slowly, he ran a hand over his face. “Few nails it.”

“I know, right?” Her eyes became heavy lidded and she rested her cheek against the table. “Funny thing is, I had the same damn thing in our world.”

“Why is that?”

“Lost a bet against Pero… “ Very slowly her eyes slid shut. “Not my best moment.” Soft, deep breaths made it clear to Malphas that she had fallen asleep mid-conversation, and he silently laughed at the adorableness of it.

The arch devil stood up and walked around the table, scooped the sleeping demoness up in his arms and carried her to the guest room that now no longer was a guest room. Carefully, he laid her down on the bed, took her shoes off and covered her with a blanket. Sleeping like this she looked peaceful. Not like last night, where her scared rabbit impression had his heart racing.

Tearing himself away from her side was difficult, but he nonetheless managed to do it and left her alone. As he was in his own room he decided that only quickly washing himself was enough and immediately went to bed after he was finished, smiling to himself because now he no longer was alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so little slow me took a while, again, but it's finally done T.T
> 
> Again thanks to @Jaldabaoth666 for beta reading and rambling about it with me, always so much fun <3  
> Ulbert being a kinkster was her glorious idea <3  
> Also: doing 4 Chapters instead of 3, because I have literaly no self-control x3


	3. Medicine

‘Sweet mother of everything unholy … how much did I drink last night?’

Marlianken woke up in bed, not having the slightest clue how she got there. Judging by the fact that she was still fully clothed, only her shoes were missing; Malphas must have carried her there. He had even gone as far as to cover her with a blanket to keep her warm. Slowly, she sat up. Apart from feeling a little dizzy she was fine.

How thankful she was for the high recovery rate of grotesques. If it wasn’t for this, she would probably have to suffer through a hangover. The faint scent of coffee had her closing her eyes again, and she smiled.

Breakfast!

Shakily, she stood up, searched for her shoes and went to the living room after she had found them. The arch devil was already in the middle of having breakfast and it looked like he had already worked before eating anything.

“Morning.” His greeting was accompanied by a mischievous grin.

Assuming that his grin of amusement stemmed from her messy still-half-asleep look, she waved at him and yawned behind a hand. “Morning.”

“Slept well?” His grin intensified.

“Like a stone.” Her steps could have very well been described as waddling. Yawning again, she pulled her hair out of her face and rubbed over her eyes. “Thanks for carrying me to bed.”

The demon sipped on his coffee. “So you remember?”

“Nope.” Rubbing her face again, she sat down next to him and grabbed a cup and the coffee. “But since I was still dressed, I assumed that you did.” Yawning yet again, she watched the black liquid as she poured it into her cup, then inhaled its scent before taking a sip. “Mmm … that’s the good stuff.”

“Really? Black?”

“What? Expected me to be the milk and sugar type?” Grinning, the demoness sipped on her coffee again.

“Yes, somehow I did.” Also grinning, the demon took a bite of his breakfast. “You want something too?”

“No thanks. This is more than enough.” She raised her cup to indicate what she meant.

“Liquid breakfast only?”

“Hey … coffee is the fuel that keeps my engines running.”

The smirk on Malphas’ face was the silent equivalent to a sarcastic ‘Sure’. Without saying another word he took another bite of his breakfast, his grin barely leaving his face.

“Alright … I know I look like a sleepy mess, but is that really a reason to act like the Cheshire cat?”

“Well, while I admit that this messy look suits you, it’s not the reason I’m grinning.” He was greatly amused that she poked her tongue out at him, her piercing still visible. “Actually, it’s more something you said last night.”

“Oof … I’ve been talking a lot … can you just tell me or do you want me to guess?” Setting down her mug, she leaned back, rearranging her limps so she was sitting on one foot.

In return Malphas leaned in her direction, his grin almost threatening to split his cheeks open. “Something along the lines of you thinking that I’m … how did you put it again? One hot looking devil? Does that ring a bell?”

He had expected her to act all awkward and squeaky again. Instead she poked him on the nose and shoved him back with a nonplussed expression. “Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Too late.” His grin stayed, though only because he refused to back down. “So you just admit it?”

“No shame in admitting the truth.” Marlianken reached for her coffee and waggled with her eyebrows before she took another sip.

“This is far less fun than I thought.” Now the arch devil pouted.

“Naw …” She playfully traced a finger under his chin. “Wanted me to act all squirmy again?” No answer, but his pout intensified. “Nice try, buddy.” Again, she poked out her tongue.

Oh, he would find another way to see that cute squirmy side of her again! But for now he left it at that, mainly because the devil was really hungry. They just sat there and while Malphas was eating, Marlianken just drank several cups of coffee. Aside from a little small talk it was just like every morning since the devil was put in charges of the bicorn stables.

“So I guess you don’t know what to do with yourself?” Swallowing down the rest of his coffee, Malphas started to gather the remains of his breakfast together.

“Not really … a lengthy shower maybe, but that’s by far not enough to cover the whole day.” By now Marlianken was sitting cross-legged on the chair and held her cup in her lap.

“Good, because I could actually use your help.” Against her protest, he took her cup away.

“Hey, I was still drinking that.”

“You’ve had four by now. I’d say that’s enough.” Yet again, he received a poked-out tongue as an answer. “Now would you help me out?”

“Of course. What do you need me to do?” Still sitting there, she watched how he put everything on a tray, then gathered some documents he had lying on the other side of the table.

“I need further information about a client interested in buying one of my Bicorn.” He gave her the documents. “Thing is … this client is … strange … to put it mildly.”

Flicking through the documents she had just received, the demoness wrinkled her nose. “Okay? What has you bells ringing?”

“You can see for yourself that this woman is one eccentric, rich, spoiled brat and … her request was rather … I dunno … it just gave me the chills.”

His words were met by a raised eyebrow. “Please … leave me guessing. I just love to solve riddles.”

The devil snorted. “Sorry. … So after Hades won yet another prize this woman approached me, asking if he was for sale. When I said that he wasn’t, she asked me if she could buy the first male offspring of his. She was very keen on making sure that I understood that she only wants a stallion.”

“That doesn’t sound strange to me.”

“You weren’t talking to her.”

“Uh … creepy keen?”

“You could say so.” The demon sighed and tapped against the backside of the documents she was holding. “Could you maybe gather some info about her? Maybe even find out why she is so adamant on getting a stallion?”

“Sure, no problem.” A warm, happy smile graced the demoness’s features. Evidently, she was happy to not only have something to do, but to be useful.

“Thanks.” Malphas returned the warm smile as he stood up to carry their dishes into the kitchen.

“Then I guess I’ll make myself presentable and be on my way.”

“Sounds like a solid plan.” He was shouted from the kitchen to her while he was clattering with something. On return, he had another plate with a few slices of bread and some cheese on it with him. He placed it in front of the demoness, who looked utterly confused. “But first you should eat something, and don’t you dare say you’re not hungry!”

The expression of utter disbelief had him laughing. Not capable of finding words, she looked from the plate up to him and back.

“You’re a damn featherweight, and let’s be honest, coffee alone won’t keep your blood sugar level from dropping into dangerously low territory.”

Still with utter disbelief written over her face, the succubus rubbed over her face. “What have I gotten myself into?”

“Into someone making sure that you’re eating properly.” The demon grinned and went behind her, laying his hands on her shoulders and giving them a gentle squeeze. “Now, be a good girl, and eat your breakfast.”

Her groan made him grin. “Yes, daddy.”

Practically purring, he lowered his lips to her ear to whisper. “Say that again when we’re alone in a bedroom.”

“Dream on.”

Laughing, the devil left her to her breakfast and returned to his work.

Malphas was working around the barn for almost the entire day. His equines had really wrecked up the place when they had tried to break free, and repairs progressed only slowly. Some parts were even beyond rescue and he had to craft replacements, which took quite some time. He was so focused that he didn’t even hear Marlianken approach. Therefore his heart almost jumped out of his chest when she held her hands in front of his eyes from behind.

In his shock, he grabbed her hands and harshly pulled them away from his eyes. Only when he recognized that it was her did he turn around, the shock still readable on his face. “Sheesh … don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“You were ignoring me, I kind of had to.” Though she pouted, it was clear that it was more playful and she wasn’t really offended.

“Fair enough.” Still trying to calm his racing heart, he let go of her hands and leaned against the new door he had been working on. “Did you find something?”

“You could say so.” The demoness grinned awkwardly and scratched her nose. “This woman is at least … making sure that her equines receive the best treatment money can buy, that’s for sure.”

Something about her behaviour poked his suspicion and he raised an eyebrow. His mind tried to process what she was after. “That’s a good thing.”

“Yes … but I’d say her love for those animals goes … into strange territories.”

“Strange like…?”

“Hmmm … are you familiar with the myth about how the first Minotaur came into existence?” The demoness nervously shifted her lip ring and after a few seconds Malphas understood.

He covered his face with his hand, grinning awkwardly and was unable to decide whether he should be mortified or amused. “Please tell me you are kidding.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not possible.”

Unable to hold back the mortified laugh, Malphas hid his face entirely behind his massive hand. “That’s just messed up!”

Just like the devil, Marlianken laughed nervously. “I know, right? I mean … the Minotaur myth is just that, a myth.”

“Doesn’t stop that messed up thing from trying though. But really, can’t she get herself a bull or something?”

“Well … according to what I was able to gather, she wants to give birth to a bicorn centaur and performs all kinds of weird rituals to ‘get her body ready’, as my sources put it.”

Now the arch devil just burst out laughing. This was beyond everything he had been thinking of. “Wow … just wow. And humans say we Cubi are messed up.”

Her chuckle sounded just as mortified as his laugh. “Right? They want horses to fuck them but we are the degenerates … sure!”

After laughing off his mortification for several minutes, the arch devil shook his head. “I’d say that cuts this creepy woman off the list.”

“Entirely your choice.” Marlianken raised her hands in defeat. “But I completely understand it. Do you want a list of people that would lend her their name to get her hands on your bicorn?”

“Yes, please.”

Much to his bewilderment, she pulled a list out of the pockets of her jacket and offered it to him. “Took the liberty of already making one.”

He took it from her hands, then pulled her into a one armed hug, with the succubus stumbling against his chest. Against his judgement, she just chuckled. “Sheesh ... Malphas, you definitively need a shower.”

“Are you telling me that I smell bad?” He grinned and fortified his grip, effectively keeping her from escaping.

“I’m telling you that you reek of sweat.” She slapped him on the chest with a giggle.

“I was working.” Chuckling himself, he let her go.

“No shit, Sherlock.” Pulling her hair out of her face, she shook her head. “Anything else you need assistance with?”

Thinking about her offer, he quickly looked the list she had just given him over. “Now that you’re asking ... can you compare the list that you made with my client records? Some of the names look familiar.”

“Sure. Show me where to find everything and I’ll start right away.”

That light in her eyes, spoke of pure happiness to have something useful to do ... it warmed Malphas heart. Seeing her genuinely happy about him relying busy work that he normally avoided like it was pest incarnate, on her had never been on his list of possible outcomes of him trying to see himself as equal. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing? After all, it made everything so incredibly easy and not just because he had found a way to weasel out of doing his paperwork.

Leaving his other work behind for the moment, they went for his office. After quickly gathering everything she needed, they sat there, chatting a little as a sort of break. Somehow their conversation came to the topic of her staying and the conditions of it.

“No, really ... there just has to be something I can do besides occasionally helping you with your work.” Completely not amused with his insistence of letting her stay for free, Marlianken crossed her arms and pouted.

“I don’t really see what you could do.” At his wits end, Malphas hung his head low. Her persistency was driving him insane.

“I could pay rent.”

“How many more times? ... I. Do. Not. Care. About. Coin. ... Besides, do you want to pick up work in the city to come up with it or what was your plan?”

“I have enough savings of this world’s currency for several lifetimes.” She huffed and her pout intensified.

“Really? How did you manage to do that?”

“By working, obviously.”

“Alright, now you have me curious.”

Her sigh sounded amused and her grin only fortified that impression. “Okay, I’m telling you, but promise not to laugh.”

“Okay? I promise!”

“So back when I was researching in Baharuth I was disguising myself as a human medium, capable of making contact with the dead. I was summoned to court once, the queen demanding that I make contact with her recently deceased sister to find out what her suicide note was about. The king however was very keen on convincing everyone that all I was doing was a fraud.” She leaned back and crossed her legs. “After I had summoned the queens dead sister, I openly told the king what I was thinking of him ... in front of the court.”

Malphas choked back a laugh.

“When I left, I was approached by a servant of the king. He wanted a private meeting. Pissed with his shit, I went with the servant to tell this sucker to back off. I had not expected for him to beg me to degrade him on a regular basis.”

It was simply too much, the devil just burst out laughing. “Sorry ...” He tried to calm down, but only managed partially. “Does that mean you were the king’s domme?”

“An untouchable one, but yes. You could put it that way.” The demoness huffed with a smirk on her face. “That idiot paid me a small fortune just to tell him that he was a piece of shit and not worthy of existence.”

Malphas tried and failed to hold back his laughter. This was just too good, a king begging a succubus to treat him like shit and that idiot even paid for it.

“Aw come on! You promised!” Her playful pout made it even more difficult to stop laughing.

“Sorry .... pffffffffft ... I ...” He wheezed as he tried to calm down. “I just can’t imagine that he didn’t want to get his brains banged out too.”

“Oh, he did.” That unamused look on her face again raised the difficulty level for not laughing. “I told him that it was more likely for hell to freeze over than for me to consider having sex with him.” She shuddered and shook her head; the mere memory seemed to be very disgusting.

Still chuckling, he rested his chin on his hand. “And you really want to waste all that hard earned domme – money on paying rent to me?”

“Hey, if you don’t want my domme money than maybe you want the domme services?” She leaned forward, tipping him on the nose. “I’m an untouchable one though, so no sexy time for you.”

“Oh no, missy, no sex is a deal breaker.” He failed to keep a straight face and snickered like a little kid.

“Then we should find another way of me compensating for you letting me stay.” The smirk, scurrying past her lips, was mischievous enough to speed up his heart beat. Whatever she was up to, the incubus part of him decided that he was definitively in for the ride.

“We’ll figure something out, for sure.”

“Alright.” Marlianken stretched herself, with her wings joining in on the gesture. “I guess I should get to work ... and so should you.”

“Oh? And what if I don’t want to? Would you punish me then?” With a wolfish grin on his face, he watched how her features twisted to dark amusement.

“Hmmm ... I thought the ‘no sex’ rule was a deal breaker?”

“Ah, I feel lucky ... I’m sure you can’t stick to it.”

A dark chuckle on her end had his heart skip a beat. “You sure about that? Because I can make you squirm and beg without even touching you.”

Not believing his ears, the devil narrowed his eyes. “Oh, you wouldn’t dare to.”

“Oh, I would. An enjoyable punishment misses the point, don’t you agree?” Now she sported a Cheshire grin, and the flames in her eyes flared up in warning. “And as a trickster, I could soooo easily activate your nervous-system’s memories.” Slowly, she wrapped his tie around her hand and then finally slightly tugged. “Making you swear that you feel mind shattering pleasure, while the lack of actual touch makes it impossible to find relief.”

“You ...” His breathing hitched. “ ... I’m sure the scent of me would drive you insane with lust, and will evidently result in you no longer being able to resist.” Somehow, he wanted the thing she had just warned him about to happen. At least until he saw how her Cheshire grin grew even wider.

“The way I see it, is that I have two healthy hands and am able to create clones of myself. So I can perfectly take care of myself while you squirm. Maybe I’ll even let you witness it.” Her practically purring about the fact that she would torture him with his own urges had his heart suddenly racing and warmth crept into his cheeks and ears.

“Uhm I ...” He cleared his throat. “ ... I should get back to work.”

“Yes, you should.” She chuckled as she eased her grip on his tie. “Just like me. ... Hey are you fine with me listening to music while I work?”

“Yes ... yes, no problem.” Hell, he needed to get away from her and her mischievous smirk. It was so blatantly obvious that she already knew how perfectly well she had just hit a weak spot, and what effect it had on him. But there was no way around of him needing to take care of the unpleasant boner her salacious suggestion had brought to life first. Otherwise, he would not be able to focus on his work again.

Hours later, Malphas was done for the day. Though he could have kept working, he decided that it was enough. After all, he had managed to get three boxes back into perfect shape and the forth was missing a new door, which he was already working on.

Of course, there were also those words he just could not forget about. Sure, they had been joking around, but he wouldn’t risk her following through with it. The mere thought of her doing what she had suggested had again blood rushing to his cheeks, ears and strangely, also to his groin.

Just great, he didn’t even know that he was into being teased until he was a drooling mess; until she suggested it. To make matters worse, just imagining how her dark voice would sound when she moaned shakily while doing it to herself had his incubus instincts rampaging. Annoyed to no end with himself and his own instincts, he looked down on himself.

‘Traitor!’

The devil pouted first, then sighed. He had to shower anyways; he could very well take care of it while at it. But first he wanted to check in on the succubus. Maybe, just maybe she would be so attracted to his scent that he wouldn’t have to. After all, he had already caught a whiff of her responding with arousal to smelling his own twice, so hoping for it was not completely wishful thinking.

The closer he got to his office, the more his inner tension grew. Oh, how badly he wanted her to join in, even if it meant that he would leave the reins to her and let her do whatever she wanted to. In front of the door, he took a deep breath and slowly opened it.

The woman ultimately spelling his doom at the moment was sitting at his desk, completely focused. A small gramophone-like looking box stood next to her on the table. A purple, misty veil covered the box and her ears, connecting both with a thin line. She hummed and spun the pen in her hand in some rhythm. Suddenly she started singing, her voice so perfectly steady, speaking of actually having not only practice, but also some skill.

“But doubts are driving me crazy

I’ve been there before

Caught in a maze

Been there for days

Is this really all I’m worth?

I’m so tired, but I’m gonna reach you

You can take the weight away

You must be my medicine

All or nothing, I ain’t looking back

God knows if I’ve been on a broken track

Even if it kills me now

I’m on my way down, I’m on my way down”

She hummed again before starting to sing again.

“They told me that I, I was illusional

Should know my place

And play by the sacred rules

I never ever, was anyone by myself

They can’t bomb me ...”

Her voice contained so much power, so much hurt and rage. Almost like she felt the words she was singing in her heart, the words forming from the depths of her very soul. Struck in awe, Malphas stood there and listened to her singing, reliving her past through the music as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

A lump formed in his throat and he turned on his heel and left. Suddenly the raging arousal he had felt just moments ago was gone. Hearing how her voice contained so much emotion during her just singing along ... It was like he was stabbed in his heart with an invisible dagger. He decided to take a quick shower and then prepare dinner early. To keep her company, talk with her, make her forget about the hurt in her past and give her the chance to form new, brighter memories.

Taking the quick shower he definitely needed took more time than he thought, though he no longer needed to take care of himself. After that he got to his kitchen to prepare dinner early. He grabbed the best meat he still had at home and some vegetables that were left over from her cooking the night before.

Since he now knew that she preferred vegetables over meat, he prepared a salad with some sliced beef on top. Nothing fancy, but he was sure she would like it. As soon as he was done, he arranged it in an appetizing way on two dishes and went back to the office. To his surprise, she was still sitting there, lost in her work and humming along yet another song.

Without saying a word, he just placed a dish within her line of sight, but not directly on top of her work. The succubus blinked a few times in confusion, then looked up to him and smiled while resolving the spell she had used to create a connection between the music-box and her ears. Immediately the slow and relaxing tunes of song, in a language foreign to Malphas, were hearable.

“Wow … thank you!” That genuine smile warmed his heart. Seeing her happy was already a success on its own.

“Thought you might be hungry by now … since I assumed that you also skipped lunch.” A grin on his lips, the arch devil sat down next to her.

Her growling stomach answered in her stead. It had the demon burst out laughing and the demoness chimed in. “Yeah, you were definitively right with your assumption.”

“Then shall we eat?”

“Here?”

“Why not?” Her question puzzled him.

“Well … work space? I don’t want to get anything on the documents and …” She trailed off as she saw his unamused expression. “ … I’m just being overly cautious, am I?”

“To put it mildly.”

“Sorry.” An embarrassed grin graced her lips. “Old historian habit.”

“It’s okay, really.” The devil chuckled and stood up. “Maybe we really shouldn’t eat at the working space.”

Shifting her lip piercing, but still grinning, Marlianken also stood up and they both went for the living room with their respective dishes. Instead of sitting on the table, they sat down on the sofa and chatted while eating. Mostly about what she had been doing for him, but it was still light hearted. It didn’t take long until she slipped out of her shoes to sit cross legged on the sofa; a habit Malphas found at equal parts fascinating and endearing.

After they were done eating, they just kept chatting, laughing and thanks to the knowledge he had gained earlier that day, their jokes were getting raunchier by the minute. He may have lost the first fight, but the teasing wars had only started and he wasn’t even thinking about throwing the game. But damn, she was good!

“Aw … now you’re just begging for a spanking.”

“Totally fine with me, if it’s me doing the spanking.” The blonde succubus chuckled.

“Forget it missy. You were naughty, so you’re on the receiving end.” Chuckling too, a wolfish grin plastered itself over Malphas features. “Unless you apologize, that is.”

“For what? Telling the truth?” She shook her head and laughed.

“Doesn’t change that you’ve been a little brat.”

He was sure to come out on top, with her unamused frown and offended huff, but suddenly something shifted. Her frown quickly changed into a mischievous smirk first, before being replaced by a pleading ‘good girl is sorry’ look. On all fours, she crawled over the sofa and into his lap.

“Oh please ... I’ll never do it again. Please don’t punish me ... I’m sorry, I promise ...”

Holy Shit, she was delivering this so believable that Malphas unconsciously swallowed and licked his lips, blood instantly rushing into his loins. If she would call him by a nickname indicating his all dominant position right now, he would lose it for sure and pounce on her. Hell, she even managed to make a face that looked like she was about to cry.

Not really intending it, the demon leaned back to get away from her, but she followed him, keeping a steady distance between their faces. Again he licked his lips, staring at her wide eyed, as her hand carefully trailed over his chest.

“Please … I’m really sorry.” Fluttering her lashes in such an innocent way had his instincts fighting him for control. Defiling innocence was the kind of kink that came naturally with being a demon and right now she triggered it perfectly. Until she snorted and shook her head.

“Sorry … I … pfffffft … I just can’t keep …” Her words were drowned out by her own laughter.

Malphas frowned, she had fooled him really good. “Uh huh … you’re having fun?”

“Plenty.” The laughter toned down to chuckling. “But it looks like I won again.”

The devil’s frown intensified, because she was right! That little show really had gotten him and much to his dismay, he was rock hard. It didn’t help that she trailed her fingers along his jaw and smirked in triumph, actually, it made the whole deal much worse.

“Don’t get used to it.” One of his arms snaked around her waist and pulled her close. “This war isn’t even remotely over.”

“Sure thing.” Again she chuckled. “I’ll whoop your ass any time you want.” Encouraged by his arm around her waist, the demoness cuddled herself close and grinned. “Or you could simply admit defeat.”

“To quote you: Dream on!”

Their position was something he could get used to. Just holding her in his arms, her soft, yet fragile body snuggled against his chest. Grinning to himself, he nuzzled his nose into her hair, inhaling the scent he had believed to be lost until two days ago. Hell, she was even giving him the affection he had been craving for so long, affection his brother cruelly denied him over and over again, by wrapping her slender arms carefully around his waist.

He glanced down and saw her happy smirk, her eyes closed. Evidently, she enjoyed it as much as he did. Carefully, he swept some lose strands of her hair out of her face. This little gesture had her looking up to him. His sense of smell hadn’t fooled him, her glowing eyes confirmed what his nose had already told him. Once again, her body was responding with arousal to smelling his own, and his grin intensified for this very reason.

“Do I smell so irresistible?”

“I admit your scent is alluring.” She tipped him on the nose. “But irresistible would imply that I’m no longer capable of controlling myself.”

“Which you can?”

“I’m not trying anything, am I?”

The devil chuckled and buried his nose in her hair again. “All just a matter of time.”

Marlianken just chuckled and nuzzled herself against his chest again, closing her eyes and listening to the devil’s heartbeat. Yes, he had called her out on it, but she didn’t feel like acting on it. After all, he wasn’t seeing himself as equal. Not to mention that this innocent cuddling was very much to her liking, with the devil radiating so much warmth. It managed to shoo away the creeping cold in her limbs, which presumably was a side effect of the steady connection Soul Links had to the afterlife.

She nearly purred as the devil started to gently caress her cheek, the deep rumble of his hum vibrating through his body and resonating in hers. Though she had seen him not hiding his talons normally, they were now absent. Almost as if he was afraid to hurt her with them. His fingers wandered ever so softly along her jaw, encouraging her with slight pressure to look up, his gaze transfixed on her lips.

“May I?”

“You may.” She chuckled and he slowly leaned in.

A loud knock on the door interrupted them.

“Maybe you should open it.” The demoness grinned.

“Nah, I don’t feel like it.” Eyes heavy lidded, the devil leaned in her direction a little more. Only for someone to then knock on the door hard enough to almost knock the door out its hinges. It made Malphas groan. Cock blocked, yet again! “This better be important.”

Begrudgingly, he let go of her and urged her to get down from him so could stand up. As he went for the door, whoever was outside knocked again. What the hell was their problem? For several years nobody seemed to know where to find him and only Demiurge visited him, though only rarely. But suddenly he received visits on a daily basis.

A low growl of irritation on his lips, the demon open the door a little rougher than necessary and suddenly his blood ran cold. The one in front of the door was non other than Lord Ainz. It was like the Overlord had sensed that Malphas had been in the middle of seducing his sister. A few minutes later and Nazarick’s ruler would have caught them in the act.

“Good evening, Malphas. May I come in?” To Malphas further bewilderment, Lord Ainz was only accompanied by Sebas. Without losing a single word, the butler nodded in greeting.

“Of course, my Lord, please.” The devil stepped away from the door, allowing his supreme lord and companion to enter. Then he saw the death glare Marlianken shot her adopted brother; good for him that she wasn’t a gorgon. She didn’t address him though, only looked at him like she was about to kill him. Knowing fully well that she was perfectly capable of following through with it, the devil swallowed thickly. How quickly her behaviour was able to swing reminded him of his own brother, constantly swinging between unflappable master of self control and furious devil.

“Marlianken.”

“Hello brother.” Damn, even her tone was suddenly chilly.

“I was hoping we could talk, in private, at best.”

A swing of the demoness’s hand had the world around her and the undead lich freeze. Still glaring icily, she shook her head and sat back, legs crossed.

“There you go. Talk.”

It made him sigh. Sebas and Malphas were frozen, just like the world around them. Evidently, she had stopped time for the two of them to give them the privacy he had in mind. “Satzuki ... I’m sorry okay? I fucked up, big time.” Freed from the constantly watching eyes, the overlord ran his hands over his skull and started pacing back and forth in front of his sister. “You were right with what you said, and I can’t even apologize enough for all the shit I said yesterday. I just flipped.”

“I noticed.” She crossed her arms and huffed.

“I really am sorry. Do you think you have it in you to forgive me?”

“Satoru ... we may not be related by blood, but you are my brother. I think I will come around things, just don’t expect me to simply shrug everything off and pretend nothing happened.” Now the demoness ran a hand through her hair. “Hell, were you even thinking when you spat that shit out?”

“Not really.” He stopped in his pace and hung his head low, flexing his hands. “I just reacted ... like I’ve come accustomed to since I live in this world. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to maintain the image the NPCs have of me.”

“Screw that image ... you acted like a total dick.” Huffing, the succubus leaned back further.

“That I did.” He couldn’t help but snort. Talking to her like this was just like he remembered it. She had always been the ‘jump in your face knee first’-type when it came to arguments within the family. A trait he both loved and hated. “Again, I’m sorry. I’d apologize in more languages, but as you very well know, I’m not as versatile as you when it comes to languages.”

He saw how her expression softened, and it relieved him greatly.

“Yeah, I know.” Now even a smirk scurried past her lips. “So did you just drop by to apologize?”

“Well not entirely. I wanted to give this back.” Squatting down in front of her, he offered her guild ring in one hand. “And to ask you to come with me, I just need to know that you are safe.”

Only hesitantly she reached for her guild earring, rotating the golden ornament in her hand as she looked at it with an empty expression. “I am safe. Malphas’ property is far away from everyone and he told me that normally no one drops by. Also, I’m able to hide my presence, so no one knows where I am.”

“Malphas is only one devil. One with admittedly enough brute strength to kill thousands of this world’s residents, but those are not the ones I’m worried about.” A little hesitant himself, he sat down next to her, though he made sure to keep a respectful distance.

“You’re worried about other players, right?”

“Definitely am. I know how they behaved back in the game and here things could turn way worse.”

“Well then I think I should give you this.” She pulled a little green notebook out of her inventory and casually held it in his direction. Not sure of what he should think of it, the undead reached for it. “It’s a list of players whose existence in this world I was able to confirm. None of them are still alive, by the way.” 

Curious about what she had found out, Ainz flicked through the notebook. The names were nothing he was familiar with, but it wasn’t the only information she had gathered. Race, political and social influence in this world and date of death were also neatly written down, even who killed them if they had been killed.

Utterly confused, he raised his gaze back to her face. “This one says: killed by Marlianken de Lafitte.”

“And?”

“You killed them?”

“Self-defence, I swear.”

Again, the undead flicked through the book. It was the only dead player she had killed. Admittedly, he was equally astonished and scared shitless. She could have died there! Didn’t matter that she was a pro Counter Mage, Trickster and once was known as a PvP nightmare, she could have fucking died!

“How the hell did you even get in a fight? I though you were able to hide yourself.”

“Well, I can now. That bitch found me in the very beginning of my time in this world, instantly attacked me without even asking. Screamed something about how all grotesques are abominations that need to die ASAP. But hey, I won and as a result I got myself the means to hide my presence.”

“You’re fine, right?” That he suddenly scooted close and held her in a tight hug, which startled the demoness.

“Yeah, I’m fine, you can let me go.” A little harsher than intended, she shoved her brother back into an appropriate distance, using her wings to keep him away.

His non-existing eyes narrowed as he saw how her left wing started to tremble from being kept in this forced shielding position. “Why is your wing trembling?”

“It does?”

“Yes, it does!”

“So what?”

“SATZUKI!” Suddenly he thundered in spite of himself, though the emotional suppressor got him down quickly. “I’m sorry ... this is important! You are not fine!”

“Believe me, I am.” Now she pulled her wings in, effectively shielding her body completely. “I guess the trembling is a late term consequence of that bitch breaking it.”

Not believing his ears, the undead lich ran a hand over his face. “I’m sorry. Were you really just saying that your wing was broken in that fight?”

“Again: so what?”

“I’m having a hard time here to not just drag you back to Nazarick by the collar, and you’re making it way more difficult with just nonchalantly telling me that some other player attacked you just for twisted funnsies.”

“Wait! Dragging me back to Nazarick? Are you nuts?” Now it was her turn to narrow her eyes.

“Yeah, you heard that right. Sitting by and watching as you went for Scotland to live there was the biggest mistake I ever made. I’m not repeating it! I want to be able to step in when things get dicey again.”

“Whoa ... hold your horses. I’m not a kid! I can perfectly watch out for myself.”

“Worked perfectly fine until now, right? You just almost died, and that bitch attacking you could have killed you as well. Not to mention that you lived 63 years in isolation and whatever deity you want to hold credit for knows what that’s done to your already rattled psyche.”

A ghost sphere flew past his non-existing ear and crashed into the wall.

“Don’t you dare!” Her tone was suddenly chilly again and her death glare made it clear that he had just overstepped some boundaries. Oh no! He was in serious trouble! Before he was able even mutter something that resembled an excuse, Marlianken was already on her feet, pacing back and forth, frantically running her hands through her hair. “You have no fucking clue!” Tears were running down her face. “It took me one damn year of recovery to get to a point were I was no longer feeling empty ... ONE FUCKING YEAR!”

Despite not having a throat, Ainz swallowed thickly. Without really intending to he had struck a nerve, badly. Assuming that she had adjusted to her new body as well, he tried to come up with the means to calm her. A demon on a rampage was bad enough, but said demon being her was something he would gladly miss out on.

“Uhm ... Satz?”

“WHAT?”

At a loss for words, Nazaricks supreme ruler just pointed to her stomach. The demoness looked down on herself and her rage was suddenly dulled, her whole perception dampened like she was engulfed in an oversized cotton ball. Blood was soaking her shirt, her blood. Those damn cuts had reopened!

As the realization hit her, she screamed out. Not in agony, but in frustration and anger.

“O ... okay ... calm down shorty.”

“FUCKING HELL ... THAT’S THE LAST THING I NEEDED!” Her fingers flexed and twitched, evidence of the inner fight between wanting to hold the wound shut and wanting to rip the drenched fabric away.

Ainz stumbled to his feet and fished the strongest potion he could find out of his inventory. “Here, drink this.”

Hands still trembling, Marlianken took the potion from equally trembling bony fingers and chugged it down. Not even a second later the cuts healed up, but as she lifted her shirt up to check, she saw 4 thin scarred lines. Not ideal, though much better than bleeding like a freshly slaughtered pig. Offering the empty bottle back, she huffed again. She wanted to wash off the blood and change her shirt immediately.

“See? Shit like this is the reason I want you back in Nazarick.”

An annoyed groan escaped her lips, he just had to keep pushing!

“Forget it!”

“But ...”

“NO BUT! ... Listen, I’m not coming with you to Nazarick and it’s not out of spite. I just don’t want to feel like a kid under a curfew.” She turned to him, ran her hands through her hair and desperately tried not to yell at him again. “Can’t you understand that I want to feel free?”

“I ...” Admittedly he understood perfectly what she meant. Their everyday lives had been far from easy, and despite her following her childhood dream, she was always the one most occupied with working for it. Not a single day off, always trying to prove her worth. Remembering it clawed at the heart he no longer possessed. “ ... I understand. It’s just ... I’m worried. They forced me to sit by and watch when you were fighting for your life and ...” The emotional suppressor kicked in. “ ... I just don’t want to experience something like this again.”

“You think I want to experience this shit again?” She was barely able to keep her rage in check, it was obvious.

“Not really.” Despite the situation, Ainz snorted. “Can we at least come to some agreement?”

“Ugh ... fine.” Huffing, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing particular ... how about you helping us gather intel and ... you know ... at least visit the tomb every now and then?”

Her eyes narrowed, and Ainz gulped.

“Fine ... but one condition!”

The undead let out a breath of relief. “Anything you want.”

“No spying on me, no setting up hidden guards.”

“I ... how’s that ...” Desperate for words, he ran a hand over his skull. “Well, okay ... can I at least check up on you every now and then?”

“I’ll promise to visit Nazarick once a week, we can talk there.”

Working his jaw, the overlord swallowed down the lump in his throat. Pissing her off further would be easy at this point and with her holding her guild earring still in her hands it was also likely that she would throw the trinket into his face again. Not the kind of options he wanted things to end up on.

“You don’t feel like leaving me more options, do you?”

“No.” Huffing yet again, the demoness crossed her arms, staring at her adopted brother with a disapproving glare.

A heavy sigh escaped his no-longer-existing lips. “Alright, I give up.”

“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to get rid of that.” She pointed to the blood soaked part of her shirt.

“Understandable. But hey, can you get rid of the spell first? I want to talk to Malphas.” Ainz regretted his words the second he had spoken them. An aura of pure, barely restrained rage suddenly swallowed Marlianken up.

“I swear on mom’s grave, if you’ll ask him about his intentions ...”

“I won’t ... I promise!”

Never in his life had he ever back-paddled as fast as he did just now. Of course she would think he was about to ask the arch devil about his intentions. They both knew that Ulbert had not only given him racial points in Incubus, but also how much of a hidden pervert their friend was. And to be perfectly honest, Ainz was very tempted to ask him.

After all, Malphas was the prototype for Demiurge and Demiurge ... well Ainz respected him greatly for his abilities, but was also terrified of his intelligence. That, and occasionally hearing the sounds he tickled out of the human girl he had entrusted the devil with was enough to ask himself if Malphas had interests beyond her being a ‘creator’, as the NPCs called them.

Not to mention that his sister was now an elder-succubus and simply assuming that she had adjusted to her new body as much as he had, had his mind running extra miles with scenarios he desperately tried to shake off. Thoughts could get just nasty, even with his emotional suppressor and the image of Marlianken sleeping around wasn’t among the things he wanted to think about.

Much to his relief, she just narrowed her eyes and turned to leave, resolving the spell with a casual wave of her hand. Time slowly started to run again and as it caught up, both Sebas and Malphas looked like confused kids at their supreme lord, obviously puzzled as to where the succubus had vanished. Being watched again, Ainz remembered to behave like the former NPCs expected him to and cleared his throat before speaking.

“She used a chronomancy spell, so we could talk. She left for her room now and resolved it.”

The confusion vanished and while the butler returned to show the same stoic expression he always wore, but Malphas looked as though something was bugging him. Still, the arch devil kept it shut, though Ainz had no clue if it was out of respect or something else.

“You look troubled, what’s on your mind, Malphas?”

“Forgive me, my Lord.” The devil bowed slightly. “I smell blood.”

“Oh ... her wound had reopened. I gave her a potion the heal it once and for all.” The undead had expected the devil to show no emotion, just like his younger counterpart, but was met with utter disbelief, shock and worry in his eyes. Much to his bewilderment, he was able to see how difficult it was for the demon not to run after her. “She’s fine. I can assure you.”

Bowing his head low, the devil pressed his lips to a thin line. This unexpected behaviour poked Ainz’s curiosity. Yes, he had promised not to ask him about his intentions, but that didn’t include the devil’s feelings right?

“Are you worried about her?”

“I am, my Lord.”

The term ‘no shit’ wanted to escape the overlord’s lips, but he managed to swallow them back down. What he wanted to hear, wasn’t that blatantly obvious.

“I just need to know. How do you feel about my sister?”

“I ... I don’t understand what you are asking, my Lord.” Utter confusion was written all over the devil’s features, causing Ainz to sigh. 

“Then a little more directly ... Do you love her?”

“No ... I respect and admire her.”

“Interesting. So you are not attracted to her?”

“My lord ... On the risk of sounding disrespectful, but you seem to misunderstand the nature of cubii.”

“Do I?”

“It’s only what I assume by your phrasing.”

“Care to explain?”

The devil sighed. “It is true that most cubii are ... not picky when choosing sexual partners, but we don’t jump every person we consider attractive. Sexual activity has an overall different meaning to our kind. To us it’s a vital need, comparable to eating for most living creatures. And just like eating, some treat it as just fulfilling the need while others seek quality.”

“So some are eating junk food while others are gourmets, I get it. What has that to do with you or Marlianken?”

“Your sister is an exceedingly picky gourmet.”

It took a few seconds for Ainz to get what Malphas meant, only as Sebas tried to cough away the embarrassment painting his cheeks pink, the undead understood what the tall arch devil wanted to imply.

“Ah ... I ...” Ainz coughed himself. “I see. So you don’t plan on anything in that regard I assume.”

“I’m not planning anything my Lord. All I want is to make Lady Marlianken happy. It’s up to her what that includes. If she needs a friend, I’ll be a friend, if she needs a mate, then I’ll be her mate.”

Not sure what to make of that statement, Ainz narrowed his non-existing eyes. He wasn’t overall happy with the response, but if he tried to interfere in any way, Marlianken would likely be having his head. Given his knowledge about her abilities, he wouldn’t stand a chance and would even be killed before the guardians recognized what was happening.

“Very well. Then I’ll be leaving. Good bye, Malphas.”

“Good bye, my Lord.” The devil bowed and his Lord nodded in acknowledgement. The overlord turned to leave and the devil and butler exchanged a silent nod.

Funny enough, despite their creators not liking each other, Malphas and Sebas had always gotten along just fine. Not on best buddies terms, but they respected each other and acknowledged each others abilities.

Still, Malphas waited patiently at his door until his Lord and the head butler had teleported away before he closed it and sighed. That had been strange, to say the least. Why had his Lord asked him about his intentions? His sister was a grown woman and a succubus to boot. That she would take a sexual partner once in a while was downright normal for their kind.

It didn’t matter that she hadn’t done such things yet.

Had it something to do with him no longer being a guardian? Or with the fact that he was an incubus? He just couldn’t place this behaviour at all.

Trying to shake off the negative thoughts, the devil shook his head. This was not the time to get lost in such thoughts. He had to check up on his Lady. For this reason he went to her room and knocked. Judging by what Lord Ainz had told him, she was probably cleaning the healed up wound and getting clean clothing.

After a few seconds, that seemed to last forever, she answered.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s me. Are you okay?”

“I guess ... is my brother ...”

“He left.” Malphas strained his ears, trying to figure out what she was doing behind that door. It was no use, aside from a little thumping sound it was perfectly silent in there.

“Okay ... thanks Malphas.”

“Can I ... maybe come in?”

“Gimme a second.” Something ruffled and she muttered a curse. “Okay, you can come in now.”

A little anxious, he opened the door. He had expected the worst, but seeing her like this had his guts twist for reasons he couldn’t really pin down properly. It was blatantly obvious that this blonde succubus, this embodiment of raw destructive power was pissed.

Okay, maybe no longer pissed, but still far away from being the calm and playful woman he knew. She had changed her attire and now wore a white Victorian high-neck blouse. Sitting on her bed, she tapped nervously with her foot on the ground, her hands covering her face.

From his own experiences with being in a similar state of agitation, he knew that the best way to calm oneself was to vent off, preferably by beating on something that fought back.

Just how could he present a chance for her to do exactly that?

The only idea he came up with sounded stupid, even in his own head, but it was still better than not trying and leaving her in her seething state.

“Marlianken?”

She looked up, directly into his eyes and he was able to see that she did her best to conceal the rage bubbling like lava beneath the surface.

“What do you think about a little sparring match? You know, to blow off some steam?”

What was worse about this? Her raised eyebrow? The sheer disbelieve in her eyes? Malphas was unable to pin it down, but backing off was no option.

“I mean, I perfectly know how difficult it is too cool down anger for demons like us. …”

She sighed and shook her head. “I really appreciate what you’re suggesting, but I don’t think this will do. Unless you don’t hold back, this has no use.” Running a hand through her hair, she stood up and smiled at him as kindly as she was able to at the moment. “Sorry buddy.”

Crap, she knew that he would never fight her seriously. There went his precious plan.

“Unless …”

“Unless what?” Maybe his plan wasn’t completely out the window?

“… what does it take to get you to fight seriously?” The look on her face said, that she was honestly thinking about it. So he did the same and honestly thought about a way that would encourage him to fight a supreme one seriously. He couldn’t think of any.

“Maybe … no …” Everything that popped into his mind was stupid and some things even required a complete alteration of his memories. Nothing he actually wanted her to do just for some sparring.

Suddenly, a mischievous smirk flashed across her features and he couldn’t really decide if he should be happy about it or not.

“What if you could actually win something by winning our match?”

“Depends on the prize, but I guess it would work.”

What the hell was she after? The smirk grew wider. She was obviously up to something. Leaning a little in his direction, she looked to the side but her smirk didn’t disappear.

“So … if I’d reward you with … let’s say the right to claim my virginity for winning against me … would that be motivation enough to fight for real?”

A wolfish grin instantly plastered itself over his face and he couldn’t stop it even if he wanted to. Of course he would like such a prize!

“Yes, that would be a one-of-a-kind motivator.”

“Then let’s do this.” Her smirk turned into a grin that spoke volumes.

“There’s actually an empty paddock in my possession. We could use it as arena.” Oh, he was excited about this. He would totally win this and claim the promised prize. His former doubts were completely erradicated by her suggestion. If he actually worked for it and won the right to sleep with her fair and square, no one would have the right to say anything against it.

She just nodded, implying that he should go ahead, and so he did. On the way they agreed on rules. No weapons, no offensive or defensive magic. Evasive spells were still fair game, as well as her using her clones, since her losing those would mean he would be able to win easily due to having higher agility than her. He didn’t want for his prize to have a shallow aftertaste, oh no, he intended to work hard and earn it, even if it meant the risk of losing was high.

“You sure about my clones?”

“Yes, I am.” He grinned an all-fangs grin. “With the gap in our agility points, it would be pointless to fight without you using those.”

“All right, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Her mischievous grin raised his anticipation. Marlianken stretched her arms and fluffed out her feathers. “You’re so going down big boy.”

“Do your worst!” He laughed and got ready to defend himself.

“As you wish.” With those words, the demoness rushed forward and landed a punch in his guts, sending the devil tumbling back.

He only barely managed to maintain his balance and evaded her follow-up attack with a side step. Trying to get her with his tail, he turned, but as he hit her a clone shattered. It only had him grin, as it gave him some distance.

Marlianken was now standing approximately 5 meters farther to his left, a cheshire grin on her lips and Malphas darted in her direction, trying to get her with a swift kick to the legs. But the demoness evaded with a leap and kicked him in the chest instead, knocking the air out of his lungs and sending him flat to the ground in the process.

Perplexed, he managed to roll away and jump to his feet only a second before she was able to pin him in place. Again he jumped forward and this time they clashed, hands stemmed against each other in a fight of brute physical strength.

Her grin grew even wider. “That all you got?”

“Just the warm-up phase, I promise.”

He tried to push her back, but with their strength on equal footing they were caught in a draw. Grinning even more than before, Malphas shifted his weight backwards and threw the demoness over his head backwards. Their hands lost contact and he heard her wings flutter, as she caught balance mid air and landed gracefully.

He lost no time and rushed forward to tackle her down, but only tackled a shattering clone and landed face first on the ground. Instantly jumping back to his feet, he growled at the succubus laughing behind him.

Their fight went on for hours and the sky had long since changed from sunset to pitch black night. Over and over again, Malphas landed on the ground, either face first or on his butt, while Marlianken was more than once only able to escape him holding her in a headlock because she switched places with a clone and shattered it afterwards.

But finally she had managed to pin Malphas down to the ground, holding his wrists next to his head and straddling his waist. She panted a chuckle out as she lowered her face to his. “Admit defeat already.”

The devil wreathed in her grasp. “Never!”

Suddenly she felt warm steel around her ankle and before she was able to react she was harshly pulled down from the devil, only to find herself with her back on the ground, their position now reversed.

“Hah!” Malphas triumphant outcry echoed throughout the area. “Got you!”

“Raaaarg.” The demoness wriggled and tried to break free, but it was futile. His grip was way to firm and he even thought about planting his knees on her wings to keep her from escaping.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Again the devil grinned.

Yet again Marlianken wriggled and tried to break free from his grasp, but without any MP left it really came down to the one on top being the one with an advantage. She really should have paid more attention to his tail!

“Fiiiine … you win.” She groaned and allowed her head to roll back.

That fight, though only a sparring match, had been so awesome. Like she had been drowning, and suddenly oxygen filled her lungs instead of water. It was … oddly liberating.

Still they were both done. How long had they been kicking each other around the area? She couldn’t recall, but she felt completely worn out, in a good way. Trying to steady her breathing again, she started to chuckle. This had been so much fun.

Malphas chimed in as he released her wrists and wings and sat up, offering her a helping hand to get up herself. The demon was panting as badly as she was, his hair completely ruffled and the most endearing smirk graced his lips.

They just sat there and chuckled like children that had conceived mischief for several minutes.

Finally, the demoness flopped back on her back and looked at the sky, observing the twinkling stars above. When was the last time she had felt like this? Actually happy?

His tail nudged one of her wings and she draped it over herself to make room for the tall devil to lie on the ground next to her, also watching the night sky.

“That was really fun.”

“Oh, yeah.” Again, she chuckled and turned her head his way. “And I recall you won something.”

“Mmm.” He just hummed and kept looking at the stars. “And I intend to claim my prize … once I can feel my legs again.”

“Poor little Devil. Want me to kiss it better?” She teased in a sing-sang tone.

“There are other places I would prefer.” Just laughing back, Malphas now turned his head to look at her too, a mischievous grin on his lips.

Her chuckling was dark and perfectly suited for her kind. “Cheeky, are we?”

“Just picking up on your offer.”

Still chuckling, she rolled to her side, facing him completely. “Oh? So this is how we’re doing this now?”

“Well … no.” The only answer he got was a raised eyebrow. “There is no need to rush.” He carefully swept some loose strands of her hair out of her face. “Don’t want to spoil my treat.”

“Mmm.” She hummed and smiled a warm, yet mischievous smile. “Afraid to break me?”

“Not really.” Now he rolled on his side, facing her too and looking her directly in the eyes. Those flames he found so utterly mesmerizing were glowing in a way that drew him in. “But I want to take my sweet time, and enjoy you.”

“Uh … Are you always this much of a sweet talker?” Still that warm, yet mischievous smile, it was like she was daring him to throw his intentions overboard.

“Only when I feel like it.” Absentmindedly, he ran one claw along her jaw, daring her to tilt her head up and she did. “Or when I deem it fit.” That damn smile just refused to vanish from her face and it was driving him insane. Even worse he actually considered throwing his plans out the window.

“Guess I can count myself lucky then.” The flames in her eyes shortly flared up, like she knew she had him close to losing it. Yet still she did nothing, just smiled and looked him in the eyes, daring him to do something, anything.

Before he even noticed what he was doing, Malphas had already leaned over to kiss her, like he had already intended to do hours ago. For once he allowed himself to savour the sensation and hell if her lips weren’t the softest thing he had ever kissed. The raging storm of chaos that he had felt when she had unleashed her terrifying presence consumed him instantly and he loved it, just as much as the feeling of one of her hands gripping his tie and pulling him closer.

Suddenly boundaries were erased. He allowed his hands to roam over her form, test out how her breasts fit into them, how she reacted to his careful touch and found satisfaction in the fact that she immediately raised her leg to make grasping her thigh easier as his claw roamed over it.

Fuck she wanted him as bad as he wanted her, and it was luring out the Incubus within him faster than he liked to admit.

He accidentally caught her lip ring with his fang, and slightly tugged on it and the shuddering gasp that escaped her throat was utterly intoxicating. Somehow he still managed to make a mental note about this surprising weak spot; knowing about it was a precious treasure.

Despite his every instinct telling him not to, he managed to break away from those lips. He needed to calm himself down or his plans for claiming his promised prize would fall apart. Then he saw the hunger in her eyes. Not for lust but overall touch and affection, she was practically starved. It reminded him painfully of the knowledge he had gained, of the sixty years she had spent alone.

With a new idea in mind he sat up, urged her to do it too and managed to get her to crawl into his lap. There was no need for words, he just kissed her again, swept his tongue over her lips demanding entrance and she happily granted it, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if he would be able to find the pebble on her tongue with his.

Again, he allowed his hands to roam over her body, and his stomach fluttered as she did the same. Roamed her hands over his chest, along his shoulders and finally burying one in his hair. He himself found the perfect place for his hands on the base of her wings and between her shoulders.

Damn … just kissing her drove him insane with lust, this had never been the case before. Not to mention that his ever growing erection was uncomfortably stuck in his pants.

He had no clue if she did it on purpose or not, but as soon as his hard member became evident she rolled her hips slightly, rocking into him and making him growl into their kiss. The next roll of her hips was definitively intentional, as it was slower and with calculated accuracy in applied pressure. Growling again he broke their kiss. “Damn, you’re one foul temptress.”

He held his lips teasingly close to her throat but did nothing, just allowed his breath to tickle over her skin and again that shuddering gasp escaped her throat.

“Took you long enough to notice.” The chuckle that followed her words was dirty enough to make him grin, and he carefully nibbled on her pale skin.

“You’ll regret that.”

“Promises, promises.”

Contrary to the daring nature of her words, her head rolled back, granting him access and it made it so much easier for him to tease her. Gently nibbling wherever he pleased, threading his hand through her golden hair und tugging just enough to encourage her to give him even more access and she instantly gave him what he wanted.

Unintentionally, he bucked his hips into hers, and something that resembled a moan escaped her lips. Grinning against her skin, he did it again and this time she really moaned for him. The sound made his Incubus blood sing. The finest melody this voice could produce, and it was because of him.

And then she decided to drive him insane.

Carefully, she started to roll her hips into his, perfectly calculated move after perfectly calculated move, and the way he started to treat her rougher, how his tail wound around her hips and assisted her movements told her that she had him. Yet again he growled, this time close to her ear and it had her instincts cheer.

“Beast!”

She just chuckled and pushed him back slightly, it was her turn to nibble on his throat and the demon gave in without a fight, groaning through bared fangs. As she felt his sharp talons starting to bite into her skin, she upped her game and applied more pressure to each roll of her hips.

No longer only to tease him, but because it felt way too good to stop.

And even if she wanted to stop, there was no way Malphas would let her as they were both overrun by their cubus demon nature. The only reason they weren’t tearing each others clothes of was that she wanted to leave the decision to him and him refusing to spoil his treat. But damn, he too didn’t want to stop this, even if it meant that he would give up in the end and fuck her right on this field.

Again he tugged on her hair and as she got away from his throat he instantly bit her in the neck. His reward was her applying even more pressure to each roll of her hips and a shuddering moan on her end.

This kind of ego stroke was enough to get drunk off.

He felt her hands on his jaw and reluctantly gave in to the pressure. Though her heated kiss proved to be a suitable replacement for her skin between his fangs. It was so full of Lust, Passion, Need, Longing ... the list was long and he loved every little fraction of it.

Because he was the one it was directed at!

When had been the last time he had felt like this just from making out?

He was no longer capable of remembering, the hurricane that was the heated passion between them erased everything except for the sensation alone. And they loved it.

Marlianken released his lips as her head rolled back and her moans were shaky and would surely scare off every single animal living in the nearby woods. Malphas groaned out a chuckle, snatched her lip ring with his fangs and slightly tugged, only for her pleasured whimper to end him.

He shudderingly came into his pants like teenage boy, gripping her tightly and holding her still.

“Damn it ... you witchy little seductress.” His words were a mere growl. Never had someone managed to do this to him!

“Malphas ... please ...” A pleading whine next to his ear brought him down from the high and a wolfish grin plastered over his face, daring her to say it. “... don’t stop now.”

Her gaze was glazed over, the sheer need written all over her features and he gladly gave in. He trailed a hand down her body, between her legs and started to rub over her clit through her pants and she moaned a ‘yes’ out for him. Rocking into his hand, she threw her head back and he took it as invitation to nibble on the tender flesh of her throat again.

“You want it really bad, don’t you?” He teased.

“Ye .... aaaaaaaaah ... yes!”

His grin grew even wider. “Good girl. Go on ... come for me.” Now he applied even more pressure and she moaned his name as she shudderingly came undone, her wings open at full range and pointing backwards.

Slowly she got back to her senses, leaned forward and nuzzled herself into his chest, while Malphas just held her close, trying not to get poked by her horns again. They both panted and chuckled. Marlianken slowly threaded her fingers through his hair and he leaned his cheek against her forehead.

“For a moment I thought I had you were I wanted you.”

“Me too.” The devil chuckled. “But as you saw, I was stubborn enough to resist the temptation that is you.”

“Not entirely.” She rocked her hips against him, reminding him of how uncomfortably sticky the mess he had made was.

“A partial success then.” He poked out his tongue at her, only for her to answer with the same gesture. Then they both started laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOHOOOO finally done with my shitty build-up obsession, now off to have them bang xD
> 
> The song she's singing also gave this chapter it's title. It's called 'Medicine' (obviously) and was performed by Maria Patricia Kelly <3 If you don't know it already, please consider checking it out. Her songs are really good :o
> 
> This again took quite a while and without my lovely beta-reader/butt-kicker Jaldaboth666 it would have taken much longer xD
> 
> The wonders of late night ramblings, am I right? 
> 
> Anyways, hope you all had fun reading :3


	4. All fair in War and Lust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there everyone, long time no see :D
> 
> I wanted to take the time ahead to thank ApocalypticRomantic, Kawaii-Pigeon, Ackriss and DatSonyat once again for all those streaming nights and especially ApocalypticRomantic for once again being my beta reader :3
> 
> Mädels, ohne euch wäre ich so oft so derbe am Arsch! Ich liebe euch einfach, bitte bleibt so wie ihr seid :3

Though their fight had been really fun, Marlianken loved their little round of dry humping even more. Still, she was a little bummed out that the devil had managed to stay with his stubborn decision. Him making a mess inside his pants was only a small victory, but she took what she was able to get.

They managed their way back to Malphas’ house by hanging on each other, giggling like a drunken couple. This light-heartedness was something they both desperately needed and as they reached it, the devil pulled her back, cupped her chin and just kissed her like it was the most natural thing in the world. Suffice to say, it made her heart flutter.

Breaking away from her lips, he grinned at her mischievously. “You’re still trembling.”

“And whose fault is that?” Grinning in an evenly mischievous manner, she tipped him on his nose before standing on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t worry, I can handle it.”

Her attempt at just entering was stopped by him pulling her back by her arm, resulting in her hanging in his arms like they were dancing. “You’re also awfully pale.”

“If you want to stay by my side, then just say it.” Her Cheshire grin had the devil chuckling, but he kept it shut. “Oh well ... if you’ll excuse me then, I’ll be taking some rest.”

Pouting, Malphas let go of her as she rose from the hanging position. They entered the house and after stealing a long good night kiss, the demoness vanished into the former guest room. Malphas himself chuckled and went for his own room. He needed to get rid of his sticky trousers and take a shower. But first, he contacted his brother.

‘Malphas? Is something wrong?’

‘Not at all, Demiurge.’

No response from the younger devil.

‘You’re still worried for our supreme lady, are you?’

He heard how his brother sighed. ‘You know I hate to be that obvious, but you are right.’

‘You don’t have to be, she’s fine.’

‘Good ... just good. ... So, why are you contacting me?’

‘I wanted to ask you a favour.’

‘Sure ... what can I do for you?’ The confusion in his younger brother’s voice almost had him chuckle.

‘You remember the hidden library on the seventh floor, right? Can you check if there is a book about Elder Cubi? If there is one, I’d like to borrow it.’

‘Yes, of course I remember. But why a book on Elder ... oh no ... oh no you didn’t!’

‘You’re right, I didn’t. I’ll explain the rest later.’

‘You had better. I’ll contact you once I find it.’

With that, the message spell was cancelled and Malphas finally chuckled like a kid after a successful prank. Demiurge’s mind had to be running extra miles by now and in all honesty, messing with his younger brother like this was relieving.

Still grinning, the devil started to shed his garments, starting with his jacket and tie. As he unbuttoned his shirt, he started wondering if he hadn’t been lying to Demiurge by stating that she was fine. After all she had been trembling like crazy and had been scarily pale when she left for her room. The silent voice of worry suddenly screamed at him and he decided to check up on her. Though maybe disturbing her wasn’t the best idea; for this reason, he casted distant vision to do it.

The first thing he saw was thick fog, then how her blonde hair was hanging down flat, heavy with water.

Sweet mother of everything unholy, she was showering!

The instant he understood, he froze like a deer in headlights.

Fucking hell, she looked gorgeous like this!

The devil licked his lips. He could only see her back, but that was enough. Paths of water running down her pale skin, her blonde hair plastered to her frail looking body, those feathery wings soaked and hanging down heavy. He saw how she ran her hands over her head, mesmerized by the picture of this embodiment of temptation standing under the shower with her back to his viewpoint and his mouth watered.

He wanted to be in there with her!

That’s when she turned, giving him a glorious view of her front and he was almost instantly hard again, despite the fact that she had made him come in his pants not even 20 minutes ago. Seeing those water trails running over her breasts, forming ways down her abdomen and over scars...

His breathing hitched as he saw 4 thin scarred lines on the left side of her stomach. Those had to be the result of Demiurge attacking her. Strangely he wasn’t hit by anger, but jealousy. His brother had already left marks on her, though he never had her in the first place. And him?

He was the one that had won the right to claim her virginity and she had no marks of his on her, and a low growl escaped his throat.

Now he watched her almost possessively, as she showered with eyes closed. His, his ... HIS!

His instincts started to growl as well, trying to break free from the leash he kept them on. To make it worse, the demoness started to run her hands over her body in the same fashion he just wanted to. Roaming over her breasts, massaging them a little, down her body and finally one of her hands found its way between her legs and she started to roll her fingers over her clit.

Almost on instinct, Malphas ripped his pants open, grabbed his painfully hard cock and started stroking; otherwise he would either go crazy or storm in there and just fuck her against the wall. Still, he kept watching.

As she slid her fingers further down and slipped them inside herself, she opened her eyes and looked directly at him with a predatory gaze, like she knew he was watching her. The realization hit him like a freight train: She was putting on a show for him, tempting him to join her!

He only stroked himself harder and growled yet again. That damned foul temptress, she wouldn’t win! He wouldn’t spoil his treat, not like this!

He saw how she enjoyed it; how she kept pumping her fingers in and out and he started to mimic her rhythm with his own hand on his cock. She moaned, writhed, her free hand roamed over her own body, groped her breasts, slid over her throat and finally she buried her fingernails within the wall over her head.

That devious lip bite almost drove him insane; he saw her howling out a moan, giving him a perfect view of the silver pebble on her tongue. Suddenly her wings flared open on she shudderingly came undone. The view was just glorious!

Even worse, she once again seemingly looked him directly in the eyes and this time she silently formed the words ‘come and get it’. Malphas closed his eyes and groaned as he pumped his fist harder, before he came all over himself.

Panting, he cancelled the spell. She had won yet another round of their teasing wars and it bugged him greatly. It wasn’t like he had no means to turn the tables in his favor, though. But for now, he needed a shower, as he had made a mess of himself. Twice.

Quickly, he shed his remaining clothing and went for his bath, turned the shower on and sighed with contentment as the hot water ran over his body. The adrenaline rush of watching her had managed to make him forget about how sore his body was after sparring. Every muscle seemed to scream as the hot water ran over him, warmth slowly seeping in and relaxing everything.

The only thing that could have made showering better just now was having her in here with him. A sigh of relaxation on his lips, the devil ran his hands through his hair. Having her in the shower could wait until tomorrow. After all, he had promised to enjoy her to the fullest, so doing her under the shower was definitely within his possibilities.

The blonde succubus was lying flat on her stomach, hair still damp from showering, and a low purr rumbled through her whole body. This was definitely something she could get used to.

Along with his big, strong hands massaging every bit of tension out of her back, he kept thrusting into her. Slowly, almost lazily and with care that came from the fact that this movement was only due to him thoroughly kneading her back. She just couldn’t help it, her wings fluttered in delight as he slid in a little deeper and masterfully brushed over her g-spot.

Humming something that resembled a moan, the demoness wiggled her hips, only for the arch devil to press his chest against her back, purring in her ear.

“Feels good?”

“Hmmm … yes.”

His chuckle as he resumed with what he had been doing before made her smile. Those hands were so pleasantly warm, his shallow thrusts so pleasurable. If it wasn’t for him sitting on her rear she would have raised it to encourage him to do more. But since it was impossible, she had to withstand his torturously slow rhythm. Not that it didn’t have its own charm!

Again she wiggled her hips and the devil only chuckled again.

“Impatient, are we?”

She gasped a moan as he purposefully slipped in deeper.

“Don’t you like what I’m doing?”

“I don’t … haaah … don’t dislike the spa treatment, but … haaah … it’s torture.”

Applying more pressure than before, the devil roamed his hands from the base of her wings up to her shoulders, pressing his chest against her back in the process, lowly groaning into her ear as he finally sheathed himself down to the hilt.

Fuck, he was almost too big! But still it felt so damn good!

Whispering his name, she arched against him. In return he nipped on her ear, tugging on her piercings with his teeth as he again rocked into her.

“Say it.” He purred next to her ear and she was able to hear how victorious his grin was.

“Please … Malphas … please, take me.”

That grin only widened as he heard her mewling out her pleading. And he happily complied, picking up a steady but still slow rhythm, suckling on her neck and firmly gripping her seemingly frail hips with his tail. His hands found their way to hers and he gently squeezed them.

There was no need to be rough or to be domineering on his end. This intimate way of being taken, with so much respect shown in every gesture, blew her mind away and despite the slow pace, she felt that sweet tension building, only to unravel fast ….

Marlianken jolted awake and looked around. She was alone in the former guestroom, her body still trembling with aftershocks and a frown formed on her face.

**_Oh, that little bastard!_ **

He had made her come again, but in the realm of dreams! Sitting up, her whole body mourned the lack of fulfilment. She would have him pay for that! Seeking her out in her dreams was one thing, but making her come there was just cruel.

The demoness pulled her hair out of her face and grinned. She perfectly knew that Incubi weren’t able to release in the astral plain. Without thinking about it further she hopped out of bed and made her way to his bedroom. Not even knocking, she slowly pulled the handle down and peeked in.

Of course Malphas was busy with taking care of himself after doing that to her and it made her smirk. Slowly opening the door, she studied his expression. The pure horror of being caught was written on his face, resulting in her smirk growing even more mischievous.

“I … can explain?”

Staying silent, she slowly walked towards him, relishing in the fact that he was not only mortified by her presence but also stunned by the fact that she was still naked. Of course she was, she always slept in the nude and why should she redress herself after their encounter in the land of dreams?

She was directly in front of him before he was able to say another word and pressed a finger against his lips.

“Shhh.”

As he sheepishly nodded, she trailed her finger down his throat and chuckled, then she shoved him back and crawled onto the bed. The devils breathing hitched as she trailed her tongue over his member and hissed as she wordlessly took the tip in her mouth and suckled on it.

His eyes immediately screwed shut and he groaned as she descended on him ever so slowly, only to suckle her way back up. Grinning inwardly, she suddenly flattened her tongue against the underside of his member and plunged down, then quickly went back up, thereby marking the start of her picking up a pace that the devil was not capable of withstanding.

Another groan escaped Malphas throat. Why, just why did everything sexual need to come naturally to their kind? She was way better at this than she had any right to be!

After just a few hard sucks on her end he exploded in her mouth, hard.

Through heavy-lidded eyes he saw how she not only kept him in her mouth as he released, but also swallowed, only to let him pop out of her mouth afterwards with a Cheshire grin on her lips, and she trailed her thumb over them.

Fuck, that was just downright sexy!

“Now, we are even.” She chuckled, raised from the bed and went for the door, winking at him before vanishing into her own bedroom.

Frustrated to no end, the devil ran his claws through his hair. Yes, she had just sucked him off, but somehow he felt like he had lost their teasing wars yet again.

Malphas groaned and hid his face in his pillow, as he recognized the rising sun outside tickling his senses awake. The last night had been odd, to say the least.

Despite having won the right to deflower his lady, he had managed to hold himself back and let her rest, only for her to end him in several ways. It was maddening, despite having found relief several times. Then again, he had kind of brought it on himself and to be fair, she too was probably wanting more and not getting it.

With a lengthy yawn, the devil threw the comforter off and sat up. No matter how badly he wanted to remain in bed, he just had to work. Stretching, he got up and after quickly washing himself, he got dressed. Getting his chores done would be a welcome diversion. In fact, he’d gladly take anything stirring his thoughts away from Marlianken and his urge to fuck her senseless.

When he left his room, his nostrils were hit by the scents of coffee and bacon.

Puzzled, he went for the kitchen and saw the succubus preparing breakfast. She turned with a warm smile on her lips, as she recognized his presence.

“Hey ... good morning.”

“Morning.” Still utterly puzzled, he walked closer and peeked over her should to see what she was doing.

To his surprise, she had not only prepared coffee and bacon, but was also in the middle of making scrambled eggs. He decided to do what came naturally. Without thinking about it, he hugged her from behind and nuzzled his nose into her hair.

“You’re up early.”

He was rewarded with a playful giggle.

“I’m always up early, at least if I don’t get wasted in the evening.”

“Really?” The devil nipped on her neck and she giggled again, pulling her shoulder up in a desperate attempt to get him to stop. “Ticklish, are we?”

“Stop that, the eggs will get burned.”

Malphas unceremoniously reached for the switch and turned the heat off. “Problem solved.” He grinned, as he started to nip on her ear.

“Sheesh ... you’re one needy devil.” The demoness wiggled and turned around, trailing a finger along his jaw. “Wasn’t last night enough for you?”

“That tiny taste sample? That only managed to make me want you more.” His grin widened, showing his fangs. “And I recall I won something.”

“Oh? And what about the thing that happened in the astral plain?”

“The astral plain doesn’t count.”

“Really? Does that mean I’m one more ahead in our teasing wars?” The devious grin, scurrying past his Lady’s lips, was driving him insane. He had walked into that one and frowned because he perfectly knew.

“You’re one devious little thing.”

“Took you long enough to notice.” Marlianken grinned a Cheshire grin, tapping one finger against his chin. “So what are we gonna do now? Do you let me finish preparing breakfast, or?”

Grinning again, Malphas simply pulled her in and kissed her, swallowing her surprised gasp.

This was what he wanted! What he believed to be right!

She had asked him to be her equal anyways, shown him that she wanted him in the most frustrating manner possible. But now it was his turn to show her how much he wanted her and since he had enough rest he could claim his prize.

And she ever so sweetly moaned into their kiss when he pressed down on the base of her wings, even sweeter when he swept his tongue over her lips and urged hers to life upon entrance. He growled into the kiss as she rolled her hips into his ever growing erection.

Overrun by needy impatience, he lifted her up, relishing in the fact that she instantly wrapped her legs around his hips, and carried her out of the kitchen and to his living room table. Setting her down there, he broke away from her lips, only to kiss and suckle on her throat, practically purring at her hands wandering through his hair, her fingernails lightly scratching over his scalp.

His senses were flooded with the scent of her arousal, blinding his rational mind. Her mischievous giggling encouraging him to go forth, and he kissed his way down her throat, roamed his hands freely over her body.

“Mmmm ... how much I’ve dreamed of this.”

“Really?” Her voice took an edge of danger as she pulled on his hair to force him to look her in the eyes.

“I honestly did. You’re one incredible woman. The perfect balance of destruction and kindness.”

The harsh grip on his hair eased up and her features softened. “Balance of destruction and kindness? Really?”

“Oh, yeah.” The devil leaned in, trailing his lips along her neck without really touching it. “You’ve always found time for me, cared for me, helped me improve on my abilities.” He gently nibbled on her sensitive skin with his fangs. “And still nothing got me more riled up than you kicking me up and down the arena on the sixth floor. Even this small taste of your unfathomable power was enough to make me want you.”

Marlianken chuckled in this mischievous manner he so perfectly knew and admired. “So that’s how it is. The big devil has a power kink.”

“Damn right.” Malphas suddenly bit her in the neck beneath her ear and she gasped something that resembled a moan. “And yours is so utterly intoxicating.”

“Mmmmm ... such a sweet talker. You know what women want to hear.”

Again she pulled him up by his hair, but this time she did what he had just done. She bit him in the neck, shortly beneath his ear and a shuddering groan escaped the devils throat, because demons biting each other there only meant one thing: Fuck me senseless, NOW!

A deep purr rumbling through his chest, he pushed her back and sieged her mouth, determined to make her moan, scream, plead his name. His hand instantly fidgeted with the buttons of her blouse, impatience making it difficult to open the tight fitting garments. He had barely succeeded in opening the first two as someone knocked.

To his surprise, Marlianken growled, utterly annoyed, but before she could seal the door off with her magic it was already opened and Demiurge entered.

“Malphas, I got the book you wanted and ...” The seventh floor guardian froze like a deer in headlights and stared at his brother and lady in their compromising position. The mix of their combined scent, speaking of arousal beyond belief, and the death glare both shot him sent a chill down his spine. Shalltear was right, he had the worst timing imaginable.

Before he was capable of scraping his mind back together or even mutter something remotely resembling an apology, Lady Marlianken had already pushed Malphas away and had whispered something into the tall arch devils ear. She threw him a last smirk and nodded in his direction, then she hopped down from the table and left in the direction the guestroom was in.

“Brother, I’m sorry I ...”

Malphas just shot him another death glare, one that painfully reminded Demiurge of the merciless devil his brother once had been, before Lord Ulbert had decided to turn him into the gentle giant he now was. And as if their situation wasn’t already awkward enough, he felt blood rushing to his loins. It got even worse, when Malphas simply rushed over and harshly gripped him by his tie, pulling him up and thereby forcing him to stand on his tiptoes.

“Having fun ruining this for me?” Those words, growled with utter animosity, sent another sharp thrill through the devils spine. The taller arch devil falling back into his old behavior turned Demiurge on beyond belief. It didn’t help that the handsome bastard smelled like their lady or that the scent of her arousal still hung thickly in the air. And he had thought the pain in his ribs had tamed his Incubus side for the time being.

“As I was trying to say, I am sorry. It wasn’t my intention to disturb.”

“Still, you did ... I guess I’ll have to make you pay.” The older arch devil showed his fangs in a malicious grin while sniffing on his younger counterpart’s neck. “Mmmm ... you smell like prey, brother ... delicious, weakened prey.”

His brother’s words sent a sharp thrill through the devil yet again, though it wasn’t the same kind as before. He and prey? Oh no- he was no prey, or was he? True, in his current condition he was far from being capable of fighting Malphas for control; still he refused to admit it.

“Will you stop that shit? Do you really want our supreme Lady to witness how you pounce on someone else just a moment after you attempted to get it on with her?”

Much to his surprise, and horror, the wolfish grin on the older devil’s face only grew wider. “Oh, how little you know about her.” He roughly licked over Demiurge’s neck and the younger devil shuddered. “Want to know what she just whispered in my ear?” Growling into the younger devil’s ear, Malphas nipped on the tip with his fangs. “She said: Go easy on your boy-toy. My brother still needs him after you're done with him.”

For a second, the seventh floor guardian forgot how to breathe. Their Lady had called him Malphas’ boy-toy? His brother should go easy on him, simply because Lord Ainz would still need him?

“I guess this is her punishing me for attacking her …”

“You can bet your ass it is.” A clawed finger wandered over Demiurge’s jaw as Malphas fortified his grip on his younger counterpart’s tie. “And additionally, for disturbing us.”

“Bullshit, I can smell her all over you.”

“Maybe it would be better if Pestonya checked your sense of smell.” A harsh pull on his tie and Demiurge hissed as his older brother dragged him towards his bedroom.

Yes, he was horny, actually he wanted to pounce on the devil dragging him around like a dog on a leash, but somehow he also knew that this was going to end him. Both physically and mentally. Nowadays, it was rare for Malphas to be in this kind of mood, back in his old demon ways, harsh and not in the least bit caring. As much as he had missed it, in this very moment it also terrified him. Knowing that their Lady had indirectly commanded for the tall arch devil to wreck him made it even worse.

As they reached the master bedroom, the young arch devil was harshly shoved in and his older counterpart sealed the room with silencing magic behind them after the door had fallen shut. His attempt at spitting some words of protest out was stopped by Malphas holding a hand over his mouth, indicating with a raised finger over his own to listen carefully, danger glinting in the taller devil’s eyes.

With only the chance to obey left, Demiurge strained his ears and what he heard both horrified and aroused him. It was Lady Marliankens voice, coming through the walls and she was moaning shakily.

Damn, she was doing it to herself in this very moment.

And if he was reading Malphas face right, then he was pissed about the fact that he wasn’t there to help her out.

For the very first time in his entire existence, the seventh floor guardian gulped. This was it, his brother would kill him by fucking him mercilessly until he dropped dead!

“You hear her, right? She shouldn’t be alone in there.” A deep growl rumbled through Malphas, his sapphire eyes burning holes into his younger brother and yet again Demiurge only swallowed hard. He just couldn’t remember if he had ever witnessed his predecessor in such a state of mind. It was as terrifying as it was arousing to him. “She promised me her virginity and you ruined it for me!”

“I … wouldn’t say ruined, just … delayed … maybe?”

The older devil roughly shoved him over and he landed ungracefully on the bed, with Malphas immediately being on top of him, a wide, malicious grin on his face.

“Maybe … but for now, you’ll have to pay for disturbing!”

Any more protest was drowned out by the tall arch devil’s rough, possessive kiss. Demiurge’s head began swimming, mind drowned out by the heavy scent of his brother being in a state of high arousal and bestial need. Worst of all, he too was rapidly dragged down the rabbit hole of his own instincts, actually wanting this to happen, for his older counterpart to wreck him up.

Lost in their nature, the devils tore each other’s clothes off, shreds of clothing and buttons flying everywhere, as their primal instincts demanded for flesh contact. With a deep growl, Malphas harshly flipped Demiurge over, ripped his tail out of his way and plunged in, biting into his neck and pulling on his hair in the process. All the younger devil could do was scream out in both pain in pleasure and frantically try to remember how to breathe.

His injured ribs made that part so damn difficult, and Malphas took full advantage of his weakened state, ramming into him at savage pace, fangs breaking the skin over his neck, sharp claws pulling harshly at his hair. Their tails waved around and rattled, dancing around one another like snakes in a fight.

It was almost too much for the young devil to bear; whimpered moan after whimpered moan escaped his throat without him being able to stop it. He raked his claws over the sheets, shredding them in the process, in a desperate attempt to get something to hold on to. All while his brother kept slamming into him, growling and his fangs never leaving his neck.

Worst of all, his brother didn’t seemed to care if he came or not and it didn’t took long until he felt the tension unravel, staining the sheets beneath him. The young devil writhed as he came undone, howling out a breathless moan. With a pleased growl, Malphas released his brother’s neck and resurfaced, grinning.

He was so satisfied with the result of mercilessly taking his younger counterpart.

Still an all fangs grin on his face, he flipped Demiurge over. “Enjoying yourself, brother?”

“Fuuuuuck you!”

The older devil just chuckled and grabbed the younger devils member, stroking him slightly in the process. “Oh I see … you want to suffer. As you wish!”

Malphas resumed with the savage pace he had before, additionally stroking Demiurge’s dick just enough to keep him on edge. Again, the only thing the seventh floor guardian could do was howl out in both pleasure and pain. His claws raked over his brother’s arms, head rolling back and his jaw clenched.

This was it. This was how Malphas would kill him. At least a sweet death!

Before long, the older arch devil’s head rolled back, an utter animalistic sound escaping his throat as he came undone. With the pressure gone, he allowed himself to drink in the view of his younger counterpart beneath him, weakened, wrecked and begging him with sweet, submissive moans for another release. Moments like this were gems to Malphas.

He felt like being in charge of his life again, like things were back in order.

“You want to come?”

“Yeees … pleeeeeeaaaaaase.”

A wolfish grin threatened to split the devils cheeks open. “Good boy.” Just two hard strokes were needed for Demiurge to come all over himself.

A view that had Malphas lick over his fangs.

Beneath him, Demiurge just laid there like the wrecked mess he now was, panting shakily. “Fucking hell … I thought you would kill me.”

“Kill you?” Malphas chuckled. “By fucking you till you die? Not what I had in mind if I ever needed to.”

“Dick.”

“Asshole.”

The devils both started laughing.

“I’m still mad at you though.”

“Understandably so.” Demiurge raised his head to look down on himself. “Damn, I really made a mess. Can you maybe hand me a towel or something?”

“Don’t you want to shower? Would make more sense.”

“I would … if I was capable of feeling my legs.”

Again, the devils just laughed. Moments like these were rare, little shelters of light-heartedness and though Demiurge never openly admitted it, they both savoured them. Still laughing, Malphas attempted to get up, pulling out and just changing his position had him almost dropping down. His legs were shaking badly.

“You know what? Scoot over.” He shoved his brother a little and just laid next to him, effectively spooning the younger devil, completely ignoring his weak protest.

“You’re having way too much fun with taking advantage of my weakened state.” A pout graced Demiurge’s lips and only intensified as Malphas chuckled while pulling him close against his chest.

“Stop being a little bitch about it and let me enjoy this.”

The younger devil’s tail harshly thudded on the bed, but aside from that he stopped protesting all together. Instead, they started discussing the ‘Book of Cubi’, Malphas had asked Demiurge to retrieve. Reading through the sections together, they quickly discovered how different elder type Cubi were compared to regular ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *please insert maniacal laughter here*
> 
> it's getting closer ... 
> 
> What once had been a oneshot idea, bithed from me fangirling over someone else's OC, now turned into it's own complete story with no certain end. ... Whoopsi ... sorry, not sorry.  
> We'll see how far I will take this (I honestly have no clue myself, so it's as much of a surprise for me as it is for you) 
> 
> See you next chapter :)


	5. The Prospect of Prolonged Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter was the idea my lovely beta-reader ApocalypticRomantic :D

Malphas was still grumbling over staying too long in bed with Demiurge, since he was only capable of stealing a short kiss from his Lady before she left for the rest of the day. And admittedly, it had been the better choice for them to stay separated for the day, otherwise he wouldn’t have had the nerve or patience to tend to his daily chores. His beasts had been very displeased with him letting them wait for their breakfast already and he was certain they would have started yet another rampage if he left them waiting any longer.

‚Damn paperwork.‘

He tried to focus, but it just didn’t work out. Though he had successfully drowned his lust, and the unpleasant anxiety about possibly fucking up, in his workload the entire day, it was somehow no longer working for him.

The closer he got to finishing his daily duties, the more the memories of them making out and her sucking him off distracted him. Just why had he said that he would claim his prize once he had some rest and enjoy her as much as he could? His own words were putting so much pressure on him and still he would have rather dropped everything, rushed over to her and just fucked her shape into whatever surface he could throw her onto first.

‘Just a little more … it’s almost done.’

She had returned a few hours ago, but he refused to let his instincts take the reins over yet again.

Suffice to say, he was about to go insane.

He heard the door to his small office behind him and the unusual sound of heels clicking on the wooden floor. It had to be her, but before he was able to turn around to face her she embraced him from behind. Carefully draping her arms over his shoulders and crossing them in front of his chest, her breath tickling his ear.

Damn it, there was no fabric over her pale skin!

“Darling, I can smell you through two closed doors, don’t you think you’ve been holding back long enough?”

His breathing hitched. As if the way she embraced him wasn’t enough, she had just called him by a lover’s nickname. He swallowed hard as he fought his own nature for control.

“Well, maybe.” Smooth …

To his sorrow, her arms retreated, but she then urged him to turn around and this time he thought his heart would give out.

Her dress was nothing short of intoxicating. It was a neck holder with a deep décolleté, made of silvery, slightly translucent silk. There were accents in a water flow pattern around her bust and on the hem stitched in with coppery threads. A long slit started shortly beneath the right side of her hips and opened the skirt to give him a perfect view of her long legs. A band of light blue silk ran along her hips, in mimic of a belt, and was accentuated with a coppery ornament that resembled the Soul Link class symbol, an Uroboros holding a sphere with purple flames inside. The outfit was completed by High-Heel strap sandals.

Taking the cake, however, was the fact that she was wearing her golden hair open, perfectly framing her face and hiding most parts of her horns behind her curly, wild mane. And was she even wearing something under this thing? Judging by the fact that he could see her skin shimmering through the silver silk he was sure that he would see it if she did and he saw none.

His rational mind was drowned out by the rush of lust he felt. He wanted to grab her and throw her on the desk, but she shoved him back into his seat and sat down in his lap, crossing her legs and trailing a finger along his jaw teasingly.

“I guess you like what you see?” That teasing smirk, she had already worn the day before, appeared on her features again and he loved it.

“Like is an understatement.” He grabbed around her hips in a possessive manner, shoved her hair out of his way and nibbled on her ear. “But I’d like it even more if it was lying on the floor, preferably a little torn from getting you out of it.”

Her playful pout had him grin. “So much effort to wrap your prize up nicely and you would just tear it off? Such a shame.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll appreciate your gift-wrapping.” The devil nuzzled his nose against her neck before playfully biting her, practically purring as she responded with a gasp to his actions. “I’ll worship it … just like I’ll worship your whole body.”

She hummed as she pushed him back, her hands gently wandering over his cheeks and neck. “Hmmm … much better.”

His breathing yet again hitched as she bit him in the neck, right beneath his ear. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t stop the deep, purr-like rumble from vibrating through his chest. A more clear ‘shut up and fuck me already’ wasn’t possible.

One of his hands possessively grabbed her neck, the other one roughly slung around her waist, and he feverishly kissed her. Impatience fuelling their every movement, he roamed his hand around her waist over her body, squeezing her curves and allowing his hand to slip beneath her dress along the slit over her leg.

A growl of appreciation vibrated through his chest as his fingers confirmed that there was no underwear beneath the teasingly translucent fabric. She shifted in her seat, finally straddling his lap and the devil broke away from her lips, not without tugging on her lip ring with his fangs, to nibble on her exposed throat.

The way she moved, rolling her head back to give him access, and how she roamed her hands over his shoulders only to bury them in his hair had him groan. Even more as she rolled her hips into his, with just enough pressure to have him question his choice of going slowly. One of her hands snaked its way to his chest and loosened his tie, only to pull it off of him and throw it aside carelessly.

Yet again, his grin intensified and he leaned back, opening his coat and grinned even more as she helped him in not only opening it, but also in getting him out of it. His arms were barely freed from this one layer of confinement, as he already grabbed around her waist and rear to lift her up.

The dark chuckle, bubbling up from her throat almost had him growl again, it was so deliciously lustrous. The feeling of her long, slender legs slung around his hips stimulated parts of his nature that had been lying dormant for quite some time. Suddenly parts of his Incubus nature, that he had believed to either be dead or comatose, reared their head, demanding for him to please her, make her lose herself in ecstasy until she dropped out.

It wasn’t just lust, it was deep rooted hunger, a hunger he had only heard stories about but never experienced himself. For the first time he wanted to not only experience pleasure, but to feast.

In his arms, the succubus wiggled, attempting to get down. Not that he would let her. Instead he turned and sat her down on his desk, nibbling on her throat again. He chuckled as she swung her foot just enough to kick him in the butt with her heel. 

“Doesn’t the lady like what her humble servant does?”

She snorted, but traced a finger along his jaw. “The lady wants her humble servant to follow her into the bedroom, so she can properly reduce him into the mess he should be.”

“Uh … big words for a virgin succubus.”

“You have no idea, my dear.” She leaned up to whisper in his ear. “Graphic novels can give lonely virgin Succubi ideas a certain Incubus can only dream about.”

Trying not to give away how intrigued he actually was, Malphas nipped on her ear. “Hmmm … what kind of ideas are we talking about?”

“Let us get into your bedroom and I’ll show you.” The succubus snatched his earrings with her teeth and tugged and the devil closed his eyes, groaning.

Damn, she already knew one of his weaknesses way too well.

“Fine … but maybe better use your bedroom, mine’s …”

“Still a mess from fucking your brother senseless?” A smug grin danced over her lips. “Don’t worry, it’ll be even messier once I’m done with you.”

Unconsciously, Malphas swallowed hard. Now, if that wasn’t the promise he had been wishing for all day long. He felt more than ready to take on the challenge she presented. What he wasn’t ready for was the predatory, hungry look on her face and the glowing, raging flame reflections in her eyes. To him it was as scary as it was arousing.

“ ** _Now be a good devil and let us go into your bedroom._** ”

Though she slightly shoved him backwards, she didn’t need to use any pressure or force. His body simply obeyed, unable to resist her racial control aura. Not as long as he wanted her as badly as he did just now. Along the short way she kept shoving him, her eyes never leaving his, the hungry smirk never leaving her lips.

Everything about it fuelled his raging desire.

After reaching his room, she kicked the door shut behind them and released him from the magical hold. He instantly rushed forward, pressing her frail looking body against the door, possessively kissing her, hands roaming over her form.

An attempt at pinning her arms down over her head was stopped by her wings pressing against the door with enough force to push both of them away from the wooden surface. She slipped her hands through his, down his arms to his shoulders and started opening the buttons of his shirt. The second she was done opening them, he already shrugged it off his shoulders, bringing his hands to the base of her wings and her neck afterwards and pulling her flush against his chest.

The devil broke away from her intoxicating lips, trailing his along her jaw before kissing his way down her throat. Yet another growl tore through his throat as she leaned back to give him access, sighing breathlessly just for him. The hand on her neck fiddled with the clasp of her neck-holder dress, slowly trying to get the stubborn garment to open.

Her hands freely roamed over his shoulders and through his hair, fingernails scratching over his skin, leaving slight red trails.

Finally, he managed to open the clasp and with a metallic clicking sound it fell loosely down her shoulders.

Yet again she shoved him and just as he landed on his bed, the silvery silk slipped down her frame like flowing water, revealing every little bit of pale skin. She indeed wasn’t wearing anything under it and the devil licked his lips like a hungry wolf. Wings fluttering slightly, she walked over to him. Every move seemingly calculated to drive him insane; from the minimalistic hip sway to her hands pulling her hair back.

Hell even the hungry smirk on her face had him almost lose it.

“My, my … so impatient.”

She slipped out of her sandals as she crawled into his lap, grinning.

“How can I not be?” Greedy hands pulled her closer, his lips wandering over her throat and a low purr escaping his. “Hell, you smell like the most delicious treat.”

Marlianken just chuckled, leaning against his chest and allowing her hands to scratch over it, starting to open his pants as she reached them. “So do you, my dear.” She nipped on the tip of his ear. “I’m sure you’re tasting like the most rare delicacy.”

A deep rumble, more groan than purr, rumbled through him. “You intend to feast on me?” Just knowing about her intention, knowing that she saw him worthy of it, felt like an ego stroke of astronomic proportions, especially to his incubus parts. “Mmmm … maybe I should do the same? Feast on you too?”

“Oh? I thought you wanted to do it right from the start?” She shoved him back onto his back, swatting away his hands, only to slip down from his lap and pull his pants down. “You know, as part of the whole ‘woman I always wanted’ thing.” Carefully, she crawled back on top of him, her hair tickling his overly sensitive flesh.

“Never even dared to think I was allowed to feast on a former realm traveller.”

“Allowed? Oh, no, darling.” She lowered her lips to his ear, grinning wickedly. “You need to earn that right, my dear.”

Those words had him grin in an evenly wicked manner. “Yes ma’am.” Oh, he was going to earn it. In fact, he planned on ruining every other man the chance to ever find their way into her bed. After all, he was the first she ever deemed worthy sleeping with and hell he would be damned if he didn’t made sure he would stay the only one.

Once again he allowed his hands to roam over her form, pulling her down to kiss her in the process. The stark contrast between his own body’s heat and her body’s natural chill made his fingertips tingle, her porcelain smooth skin so pleasant to touch, the intoxicating mix of her natural scent and arousal making him dizzy. Additionally the feeling of her fingernails scratching over his shoulders, hands then slipping over his arms to pull them down.

He thought she wanted to entwine their fingers or something, but suddenly she was holding down his wrists and broke their passionate kiss. “Very well. I think I promised to show you some of the ideas my favorite graphic novels introduced me to.”

“That’s …” The devil wiggled his wrists, only to realize that this wasn’t the least bit playful, her grip was way too firm for that. “How should I earn my right to feast if you don’t give me the chance to?”

„Oh? Who says you need to take the reins for that?” That mischievous smirk on the succubus’ face was going to end him one day, Malphas was sure of it. He tried to wriggle out of her grasp once again, but it was no use. That their strength was on equal footing didn’t matter, the position she had lured him into gave her a big advantage.

She was straddling him, holding his wrists pinned down on each side of his head and hovering over him just barely out of his reach. Hell, she even pressed his tail down with her knee. With her wings opened to full range, dangerously looming over her frame, she looked like a predator that had just caught its favorite prey.

And he didn’t like that in this cat and mouse scenario he was assigned to the role of the mouse.

“What’s the matter, dear?” She lowered her face some more, daring him to fight her for control. “You are so quiet all of a sudden.”

“It’s not every day that a woman throws me on my back like this.” He snarled back. Not the best line he ever came up with, but the most honest one. Again, he tried to wriggle out of her grasp, without success.

“Oh.” She playfully pouted. “I remember things a little … different.” Again, her mischievous smirk, it was driving him crazy! Almost as much as the fact that she didn’t move at all. She just held him pinned down and he couldn’t help but growl in frustration.

“Give me a chance and I will prove you wrong.”

Fuck, he wanted to throw her on her back and just take her so badly that forming any straight thought was difficult. To make matters worse, she just chuckled and sat up. Her grip on his wrists eased up, only to be replaced by ghostly shackles that held him in place, tracing a finger down his throat teasingly in the process.

“Not really a convincing argument.” The flames in her eyes flared up for a second. “And I admit, I kind of like the view of you squirming beneath me.” She bit her lower lip and scratched over his bare chest, just barely firm enough for him to feel it.

Malphas couldn’t help but shudder under her inescapable touch and groaned needily.

She hummed in approval. “Hmmm … so much sensitive skin to play with.”

He fought against the restraints, without success, while she continued to carefully roam her hands over his exposed chest and throat. Being at her mercy seemingly increased the sensitivity of his flesh tenfold. The tenderness of her touch was maddeningly arousing.

Trying to pick up a fight for domination between the sheets with an elder succubus had been a dumb idea, now she was seemingly even more determined to drive him insane. She was toying with him and used her knowledge about their racial traits to her advantage, having him growling out in frustration again.

This frustration only got worse when she slipped back and her lips gently touched his throat. The sensation was unbearably pleasurable. He could feel her grinning against his skin and instantly knew that she was perfectly aware of it.

Placing more tender kisses along her way she slipped down further and further until she finally reached his boxers. Barely able to raise his head, he looked down and watched her with want and need as she snatched the fabric with her teeth and pulled it down to free his member.

“Well, hello there.” Her sing-song tone had him growling yet again. Her gaze flew up to his and she smirked again. “Oh please, don’t be so impatient.” She poked her tongue out and he saw that taunting silver pebble sitting in the middle of it, for once she wasn’t hiding it and he couldn’t wait to see how she would bring it to use. “Try to relax and enjoy the journey.”

Her tongue lashed out and she licked over his penis, purposefully making him feel the little silver bud on her tongue, and Malphas already felt like he was drowning in pleasure. And he had already thought that she was better at this than she had any right to be last night, but with the succubus putting her silvery secret weapon to use right from the start, it was clear how little clue he had about her skills.

The devil frantically tried to remember how to breathe, as she skillfully danced her tongue over the tip, the piercing perfectly pressing against the slit. Through bared fangs, he groaned needily, nostrils flaring from inhaling deeply.

This was nothing, she barely touched him and he was already a goner. The slow pace so torturous, his every thought focused on how badly he wanted more than what he got. When she finally took the tip of his member in her mouth and gave it a gentle suck, he already desperately wanted something to bite on, panting and groaning loudly.

Malphas dared to look down and watch her, only to lock eyes with her, as she was observing his every reaction carefully. She allowed him to slip in deeper, the additional pressure driving him insane. Was she pressing her tongue up the underside on purpose?

If she had started doing it on accident, she was definitely continuing to do it on purpose, since she was able to see the effect it had on him. The devil tugged on his restraints with all his strength, bared his fangs, eyes daring to roll back and a low, pleasured growl vibrating through his body.

“Fucking hell …”

In response to his swearing she took him in deeper, sucking her way back up and grinning as she let him slip out of her mouth with a wet pop. It was too much, his head thudded back against the bed. How in all nine hells was this woman capable of still looking like a predator with his cock in her mouth? A miracle that was beyond him, but a miracle with the power to end him way too fast.

He hissed as she took him in again, stroking what she couldn’t fit in her mouth with her free hand, tongue flat against the underside, piercing pressing against the vein there with pinpoint accuracy, suckling her way back up, so torturously slow that Malphas thought he was about to die.

Of pleasure.

Killed by a virgin.

What a sweet way to go!

He just couldn’t help it, his tail was rattling wildly, with only some magical barrier keeping him from grabbing on to her and squeezing. Maybe that would have made the sensation more bearable.

And as if her ever so slowly sucking him towards climax wasn’t already enough torture, she roamed her free hand over his abs, scratching ever so slightly. Every nerve in his body seemed to fire pleasure signals, but he still wasn’t given the luxury of an easy release. Instead it was building up into unknown heights.

Suddenly she stopped.

No friction, no touch, no nothing!

Seconds later something kicked him over the edge and the devil threw himself against his restraints, hissing, growling and baring his fangs, tail lashing around. The longest seconds of his life!

As fast as the rush had gotten him, it was over again. Malphas panted, chest heaving, body shuddering. He had read about something that had sounded alike to what he had just experienced. To confirm his suspicion, he raised his head again to look down on himself and saw that, indeed, his cock was still twitching and had only leaked a little.

Equal parts confused and riled, he narrowed his eyes and looked at Marlianken, who sat next to him on the bed, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

“Did you really have the guts to make it worse and ruin me?”

She leaned up and tipped him on the nose. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like the prospect of prolonged fun?”

Chuckling, he rolled his head to the side she sat on. “Sure I do, but a heads up is always nice. So what now? Do you intend to wait until I’m no longer oversensitive?”

“Mmmm.” Her fingers danced over his chest. “Maybe.”

“Or … you could free me and we make the road an equal exchange?”

“Like ruined for ruined?”

“More like prolonging for wreckage. Got to earn the right to get my sweet treat.” The devil grinned and judging by the knowing smirk, gracing the succubus’ lips, she seemed to get what he intended to convey.

“Sounds tempting …” Seemingly thinking about it, the demoness traced her fingers along his jawline, urging him to tilt his head and kissed him.

More on instinct than anything else, his hands tugged on the shackles, wanting to get his hands on her and much to his surprise, his restraints vanished. He instantly took the opportunity to sit up, grab her and throw her on the bed.

Breaking away from her lips, he grinned wickedly. “My turn!”

Giggling, she grinned back, slightly biting her lower lip. “Do your worst.”

“Oh, I will … and you will plead for mercy.”

“Make me.”

A low chuckle escaping the devil’s throat, he nibbled on her throat, purposefully making her feel his fangs. Aside from a gasp, he got nothing out of her, but that was fine with him. After all he knew he would break her will fast enough.

He started nibbling his way down, teasing her skin with his fangs until every little patch he touched broke out in goose bumps. Deciding that he had plenty of time to play with her chest later, he only gave each nipple a slight suck before he descended further down, encouraged by her stubborn refusal to reward him with more than just a sigh or gasp.

Grinning to himself, he bit her a little harder than necessary as he reached her lower belly, having her chuckle. Having reached his destination, he carefully traced his tongue over her folds. Though still not his desired result, the approving hum he received was already much more to his liking.

As his tongue speared through them and teased her pearl, she gasped something likened to a moan. Exactly what he wanted to hear!

Grasping her hips to keep her from jerking away, he proceeded, teasing her clit with his tongue, eyes never leaving her face. That devious lip bite, a desperate attempt at keeping herself silent, had him purr.

The second her head slightly rolled back, he upped his game and gave her a gentle suck, making her moan, hands flying to his hair and tugging. Purring, the devil started to suckle, relishing in her reactions.

In how her head rolled back, how her lips parted with breathy moans, how her body started to tremble, how her hips started jerking.

And she wasn’t the only one with the knowledge about how to drag things out. Malphas made sure to be as gentle as possible, slowly bringing her closer without the risk of ending her too fast. His name falling from her lips, moaned with utter desperation had him grinning.

Her wings started flapping crazily, and the devil nearly growled as he felt how she was getting close, how her body was tensing up. Though he loved to see her like that, ending her this fast wasn’t really satisfying. Not after what she had done to him without warning. For this very reason he stopped with what he had been doing, kissing and licking his way up her lower belly.

The shudder, running through her body as he accidentally touched her scars with his fangs, instantly gave him ideas. Yet again grinning wickedly, he proceeded with paying attention to them, kissing the fine red trails, trailing along them with his tongue, teasing the freshly healed skin with his fangs. The result was her shuddering crazily, Marlianken pleading his name, moaning, trying to push him away.

“Please …. Malphas, please don’t … “

“Please don’t what?” He grinned, knowing fully well that he had her.

“Don’t … please don’t touch them … they’re too … sensitive.”

“Hmmm.” He purposefully teased her scars with his fangs again. “Does that mean you want me to have mercy?”

“Fuck … YES! Yes … please, have mercy on me …”

Hearing her actually plead for mercy had him grinning, wide enough to almost split his cheeks open. “See? Wasn’t that hard to beg for mercy.”

Her head thudded back against the bed and one hand left his head to flip him off. It made the devil pout. “Manners, young lady.”

“I swear … keep on acting like a little shit and I’ll tie you up again and screw you over.”

Malphas simply chuckled. “Don’t think so.” He dipped his head down, tongue lashing out and swirling around her pearl, and the demoness gasped out a moan. Hands roaming through his hair and scratching over his scalp encouraged him to stop playing around and Malphas decided that it was about time to end his turn. Therefore, he started suckling on her clit, hard, to make her come fast. And she did.

Seeing it had the most primal parts of his instincts growl. Her body tensing up, her wings pushing her back up into an arched bow no mortal spine would be able to handle, her shaky moan. All of it at the same time pleased him and turned him more on. 

The second he stopped, the demoness flopped back down onto the bed, a dreamy smile on her face.

“Holy shit …”

Smirking, the devil stemmed his whole weight up on his arms to hover over her. “Thanks.”

Still panting, Marlianken beckoned the devil with a single digit to come up and join her, an invitation Malphas gladly followed. He somehow expected a gentle kiss, but it was nowhere near that.

No … it was ravenous, impatient, filled with as much passion as it was filled with impatience.

And suddenly he was no longer on top, as she quickly rolled them and sat down in his lap, rolling her hips in a steady rhythm. “You’ll regret teasing my scars.”

“Make me.” The devil reached for her, only to find out that a magical barrier kept him from actually touching her. Growling in frustration, and to some degree pleasure from her sinfully delicious hip rolling too, he settled for digging his claws into the mattress, hissing and baring his fangs as she reduced the speed of her torture, yet at the same time applied more pressure.

Her hands trailed over his abs, following the rhythm of her hips and a hungry smirk appeared on her lips before they parted and her head rolled back, a breathy moan falling from her lips. 

It had his tail repeatedly thudding on the bed, and made him pull on the sheets with all his strength until they simply ripped apart. Moan after moan falling from her lips made the devil dizzy. His claws were raking over the magical barrier in a desperate attempt to grab on to her, force her to do more, to actually finish him off, and yet, he got nothing.

Pleasure turned into torture when his Lady leaned back and stemmed her hands against his thighs for support. Quickly he sat up, trying to get his hands on her, to turn things his way, but the barrier made it impossible to reach her, no matter how hard his claws were digging into the invisible material.

Desperate, he growled her name through bared fangs.

Not only was she keeping him on edge by now, she was somehow grinding herself to fulfilment at the same time.

It was maddening, it was pleasure overload, it felt like he would die any second now if she kept on doing it and nothing he could do was able to stop her.

Being tied up was less torturous than this!

To make it worse, she came undone; shuddering, moaning shakily, her wings jerking open and trembling, while he got nothing.

Still trembling with aftershocks, the demoness locked eyes with him and pushed him back down, grinning a Cheshire grin, before slipping out of his lap and starting to gently tease his twitching cock with her tongue. Not enough to finish him off, but enough to keep him on the fine line between close and gone.

Yet again, he raked his claws over the magical barrier, his tail trying to pierce through. No use.

Burying his claws in the barrier, he arched his back, finally a desperate mewl falling from his lips. “Damn it woman …. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase.”

He heard her chuckle, he felt the gentle suckling and how her piercing yet again teased his head before the friction was gone … only for that unsatisfying high of being ruined to wash over him again.

The barrier vanished and with it his claws thudded limply on the bed, his chest heaving as he panted. “Fucking hell … are you trying to kill me?”

“Kill you?” She chuckled, obviously amused. “If I wanted to do that I’d simply ram a sword in your heart and be done with it.”

Chuckling himself, he ran his claws through his hair. “Noted. Also …” He sat up, quickly cupping her chin. “ … my turn.” Quickly spinning her around, he pulled her back flush against his chest, one arm wound tightly around her waist, one hand on her throat, nipping on the tip of her ear with his fangs. “And since you, devious little thing, seemingly like to ride things, how about you ride this?” He slipped his tail between her legs, metal plates pressing up against her heat.

The demoness shuddered in his restraining grip, both from the cold of the metal and the sheer thrill of having something this dangerous pressing against her most vulnerable part.

“What are you waiting for? Need a little help?” The devil hissed in her ear, moving his tail back and forth a little until she complied, riding his tail like he had asked her to.

The cold metal between her legs quickly became warm and slick, the devil controlling the pressure she was able to get in order to not finish her off too fast. Shamelessly, he teased her neck, shoulder and ear with his fangs, his grip around her waist iron fast.

With her mouth falling open with the first moan, the devil retracted his talons on the hand around her throat, slipped it up until he could hold her mouth open with his thumb. To his surprise, she eagerly dipped forward to suckle on it without him saying anything.

“Good girl … suck it like you sucked my dick.” He practically purred in her ear, tugging on her piercings with his fangs afterwards and even gagged by his thumb, she moaned sweetly for him.

Every time her movements became desperate, he lowered the pressure, effectively keeping her on edge like she had done with him, relishing in how her fingernails raked over his arms. “Desperate, are we?”

She just moaned something resembling a yes against his thumb, sucking harder and the devil groaned, closing his eyes. This was playing into a lot of his fetishes right now and he didn’t felt the least bit like stopping. In a split second decision, he bit down on the tip of her ear, his hand around her waist leaving its place to slip down between her legs, his now talonless fingers replacing his tail.

Growling in acknowledgement, alongside a primal part of his very being, he slipped them along her slick folds before dipping a single digit slightly into her welcoming heat.

Her surprise was accompanied by a throaty moan and a hard suck on his thumb.

“That what you want? For me to fill you up?”

Her head thudded back and she nodded, making him grin while slowly sinking his finger inside her, relishing in her trembling legs and desperate bucking against his hand. Lazily pumping in and out, he used his tail to properly restrain her movements yet again by winding it around her waist.

That was for sure going to leave marks, as he needed all the strength he could muster up in his demonic appendix to keep her movements in control, effectively squeezing her. By the time he added a second digit, he was sure he would suffocate her if he squeezed any harder.

Not sure if he had it in him to restrain her much longer, he started to additionally rub his thumb over her clit, making her come unexpectedly fast.

Trembling crazily, she slumped back against him, his thumb popping out of her mouth with a wet pop. It made him grin. Pulling his fingers out, he- more out of curiosity than anything- looked at them; no blood.

“Such a messy girl, yet not as pure as I thought.”

He just got a chuckle as an answer nothing more.

“What’s so funny?”

“You mean apart from that cliché line you just pulled? How about you thinking that you’d be capable of finding an intact hymen?”

“Oh you want cliché? How about me making you lick everything you’ve stained clean? You know, since you’re not as pure as I was promised.”

He had expected literally everything, expect for his lady to wordlessly grab his hand, pull it up and unceremoniously licking his fingers clean. Only as she turned around, shoving him back onto his butt simultaneously, he saw the sly grin on her face, this expression of pure mischief with a splash of desire.

The devil nearly swallowed his own tongue as she dipped her head down, licking his tail clean. Swatting away his grabby hands, she resurfaced, a victorious grin on her lips. “That what you wanted?”

Malphas simply gulped; suddenly she again looked like a predator that had locked on to its favorite prey. “Yes?”

“Good. So now …” Marlianken slowly trailed a single digit along his jawline. “… again my side of the trade, right?”

Swallowing an “Ohfuckyesplease” back down, the devil bit his own lips and nodded. Since when did he enjoy being submissive, enjoy being teased like this? This wasn’t him, wasn’t how he saw himself and yet somehow he was … excited? Whatever she did, it was thrilling?

Without warning, the demoness dipped her head down again, tongue lashing out and licking over his cock.

“Fucking hell, woman …” Swearing under his breath, the devil clenched his jaw.

“Oh please …” She chuckled, taking his member into her hands and stroking him lazily.

It was no use, there simply was no way he could swallow the deep growl back down. Her chuckling made it worse, as if her lazy, yet perfectly teasing pace wasn’t already bad enough. Accompanied by another animalistic growl, Malphas sunk his claws deep into the mattress, tail thumping on the bed.

“Hmmm … can’t handle it anymore? Want me to stop?”

“Dream on.” He spat back through clenched teeth. Giving up now was not an option, not after he had managed to come this far.

He wasn’t ready for her to lower the friction he was getting, for her to drag things out even more. And he was already so damn high on pleasure, yet still so far away from getting relief.

Yet again, a growl fell from his lips. “Do your worst woman … I won’t plead for your mercy.”

“Really?” She leaned up to him, curiosity written on her face. “Does that mean I can tease you some more?”

The devil actually managed to chuckle and look her in the eyes, challenging her. “If you can handle the payback.” 

One of her hands left his cock, pushing him further back down and a triumphant smirk graced her lips. “I think I can handle whatever you dish out.”

Less friction … Malphas ripped a piece out of the mattress as she went through with her threat, giving him less, yet somehow teasing him even more. And yet again an invisible barrier kept him from touching her.

With the demoness out of his reach, he settled for sinking his claws into the invisible wall, his head rolling back and the first of a row of desperate moans falling from his lips. Somehow the lazy pumping of her hands managed to get him close, but the second he thought he would get relief, she yet again followed through with her threat, friction gone and the unsatisfying high of being ruined ripping through his body.

He growled, clawed at the invisible barrier, his tail thumping on the bed only to fall limp seconds later, breath shaking. “You’ll regret that … I swear on everything sacred to me, you’ll be unable to walk a straight line tomorrow!”

“Promises, promises …” His lady chuckled, her fingers dancing over his abs.

Running his claws through his hair, Malphas sat up, bringing his lips to her ear. “There’s one thing you should definitely know about me …” He suddenly snatched her arms and threw her on her back, pinning her hands down over her head with one hand, the other holding on to her chin. “I NEVER make empty threats.” Devilish grin on his lips, he traced his hand from her chin down over body, teasing her skin with his claws until every patch he touched broke out in Goosebumps. 

Eyes hungry for her desperation, he scanned her expression, relished in the fact that she bit down on her lips, that she did everything in her power to keep her body from trembling. Chuckling, he slowly lowered his head, his eyes never leaving hers, not even as he gently licked one of her nipples.

No reaction, she successfully managed to supress it.

Grinning, he teased her nipples with his fangs and this time her breathing hitched and a little squeak escaped her lips. The grin on his lips only widened. He trailed his free hand down to her folds and rubbed gently over her pearl, extracting the sweetest restrained moans he had ever heard from her throat. 

As he again teased her nipples with his fangs, the demoness lost control and a throaty moan echoed throughout the room, having the demon purr in approval.

No longer feeling the need to watch, he focused on teasing her nipples with his fangs, fingers rubbing between her folds, threatening to slip in but never did and the succubus moaned for him, squirmed for him, her wings flapping for him.

His name falling from her lips in a desperate moan, the demoness came and for a split second Malphas was tempted to throw their little exchange overboard and just have her. Yet he decided against it, as something primal, something he thought he didn’t even possess lured him with the promise of something sweeter only achievable by going the difficult road until the very end.

Sitting up again, he let go of her hands, watching her trembling with aftershocks and panting. Slowly, yet surely, her panting turned into satisfied, dirty chuckling. It made him grin, after all satisfying his lady was the top point of his current list of priorities.

Glowing flames were swallowing him whole as she opened her eyes to look at him, not that her hungry expression left anything for the flames to devour anyways. Very slowly, Marlianken sat up, beckoning the devil closer with a single digit and as he followed her lure, he was met by a hungry, passionate kiss. One with the ability to make his head swim.

He only recognized that she had turned their position when her lips left his. On his back once again, he watched her with heated interest as she traced her hands over his arms to pull them up and pin them down next to his head.

Hovering over him just out of reach, she rolled her hips and he felt how his cock slipped between her folds. With the most maddeningly low pressure he could think of, she kept rolling her hips against him, her mouth falling open, breathless moans finding their way to his ears.

Her name, growled with desperation, fell from his lips as he felt the tip of his member catching on to her entrance only to slip away from it again.

Ghostly shackles replaced her hands on his wrists and she sat up in his lap, just seconds before he felt it again, felt how he caught on to her entrance, but this time she pushed down, fingernails digging into his shoulders as she agonizingly slow sank down on him.

Everything in his power was not enough to keep himself from groaning, from tearing on his restraints or from bucking up into her.

Fucking finally!

Pace still agonizingly slow, she started riding him, her every movement more a roll of her hips than anything else and for a moment the demon’s whole world stood still, then she suddenly moved up and let him slip out.

Pleasure and frustration mixed into an animalistic growl as he was yet again denied, yet again ruined. Worst of all, her hand slipped away from his shoulder and down between her legs.

Summoning all his strength, he managed to break the shackles, instantly grabbing the demoness and throwing her on her back. An agitated growl rumbling through his chest, he swatted her hands away, unceremoniously dipping his head down between her legs.

He was no longer in the mood to play games, not after this!

Claws digging into her hips to hold her in place, he refrained from teasing her in favor of ending her fast by sucking on her clit. His lady trembled, her wings flapped wildly, her back arched off the bed, she kicked out and her fingernails would surely leave bleeding trails on his scalp, yet he didn’t care, not anymore. Instead of allowing her to calm down after coming undone, he kept her on the high.

His sapphire eyes hungrily stared at her whenever he was able to catch a glimpse of her face. 

Only when her clawing hands threatened to rip a fistful of hair out, did he stop, the demoness instantly flopping down, panting heavily, her gaze unfocused, but still a satisfied smirk scurrying past her lips.

Hastily, he licked his way up her body, hungrily devouring her panting upon reaching her lips.

Unable to wait any longer, he blindly searched for her entrance, rolling his hips until he found it and pushed in. She sighed a moan into their heated kiss, Malphas only breaking away from her lips to groan, eyes falling shut as he sheathed himself completely.

No longer having the strength or patience to wait, he immediately pulled out partially, rolling his hips to slam back in. Being rewarded with a throaty moan encouraged the demon to go faster with each thrust, head dipping down to sink his fangs into her pulse. In return her hands clawed at his shoulders and neck.

Another growl, and he resurfaced, pushing himself up to settle on his haunches, claws digging into her seemingly frail hips to pull her up into the position her wanted her in.

Her whole body seemed to clench up under his onslaught, wings pushing her back up and trembling, fingernails digging into what she was able to grasp of his forearms, desperate moan after desperate moan falling from her lips. He was capable of feeling her coming, but that didn’t urge him to stop or even slow down.

Instead, he flipped her over on her belly, pulling her hips up to get her on all fours, but her arms quickly gave out, slipping away. Before her body followed, her turned her around again, grabbing her by her arms and pulling her up into his lap, tail around her waist.

To his surprise, she moved as he tried to direct her on her own, bouncing up and down in his lap, clinging to him for dear life. The sting of her fingernails biting into his back only riled him up more and yet again, he sank his fangs into her flesh with a deep growl.

So good, so close … MORE!

As her movements grew rigid and only kept going due to him urging her too, he yet again flipped her back onto her belly, pulling her back on all fours, on hand firmly entangled in her hair, one on her throat to pull her back. Faintly recognizing how she clamped down on him, he slammed himself in at savage pace, relishing in her desperate, throaty moans.

Grip on her hair growing firmer to pull her back even harder, he slipped his hand on her throat up over her jaw, fingers over her lips. There was no need for him to do anything, or indicate anything, the succubus instantly suckled on his fingers, drawing a groan from his throat. 

Feeling relief coming close, the devil wound his tail around her hips to pull her back against himself even more and slam himself in firmly one final time. His whole body shuddered, the grip on her hair and tail around her hips pulling his lady flush down on his cock as he enjoyed every tiny, relieving twitch.

His head rolled back while he relished in the sensation. Then he felt the strain of the exercise hit. Letting go of her, he managed to rebalance his weight before crashing, slumping down on her back and pushing her back down with him.

Now resting on her back like a lizard on a hot stone, the demon purred.

Sweet mother of everything unholy, that was one intense orgasm, almost unbearably so. Beneath him the blonde succubus that had gotten him into this state howled a moan that resembled his name and her whole body shuddered, but there was no strength left in her to actually move a single muscle without help.

Worst of all, he could smell it, that sweet treat only available for his kind and even through the fog of afterglow, it was mouth-watering. Without even thinking about it, he cupped her chin to get her to turn her head just enough to kiss her. Or more precisely, to have that sweet feasting kiss he had never had before.

Not because he was afraid to do it, but because his sense of smell had already told him that the females he had been with to this point were the poorest quality in regards to estrogen he could think of.

But not hers, on, no! She already smelled like a delicate treat.

For a moment he savored the sensation of feasting on her while she feasted on him, an all-consuming but satisfying exhaustion settling in, then the taste of her hit him. It was beyond his wildest dreams, indescribable but definitely the best thing he had ever tasted. His whole body responded to this taste he could only label as divine- then he started to tremble, and despite the fact that he had just come undone he felt how a second, way more intense orgasm burned through his veins.

Desperate for an anchor to hold onto to withstand the wave of mind shattering pleasure, he broke their kiss and bit her in the neck, only faintly recognizing that she went through the same process from feasting on him.

He groaned into her neck, fangs still buried within her flesh and her mewling beneath him made his heart flutter. Everything about this was just so intense, yet intimate and he loved it.

When the final ripples of this second finish subsided, he unclenched his jaw, chuckling and panting at the same time. Never in his entire life had Malphas been this thoroughly done from having sex and he could certainly get used to it.

And as an ego boost of astronomic proportions, Marlianken was so done she was close to passing out. Her eyes were so sinfully glazed over, barely open, her pants shallow but still that satisfied smirk on her lips.

Malphas purred at the sight and nuzzled his nose into the mess of untamed golden waves. There was no need for words, just gestures. He entwined their fingers and squeezed softly. With her responsive squeeze being weak but still there, he closed his eyes and allowed for the exhaustion to take him away into sweet dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go ... I did it ... I finally managed to have them bone ... *insert crazy laughter here*
> 
> Once again my thanks goes out to my streaming buddies: ApocalypticRomantic, Kawaii_Pigeon, Ackriss and DatSonyat :3  
> Love you girls <3
> 
> And if I ever get tired of thanking them, thunder shall strike me while taking a dunk (It's a german proverb, don't wonder too much about it)


End file.
